Something like it
by Andra-ggfan
Summary: Emily doesn't make the rolls so Lorelai stops by the diner. And since Lane's mother's conference is cancelled, Rory goes home where Dean is waiting. Season 2, Back in the saddle again rewrite. Literati and JJ.
1. Out of the saddle

**A/N: I am starting a new story because I apparently can't write just one story at a time and because it occurred to me that I've never written a multi-chapter teenage Lit fanfic. It's set in season 2, "Back in the saddle again" episode. Lorelai goes by the diner, Rory goes home and runs into Dean and mayhem happens. I****f you've read through my old stories, you might recognise this as re-write of Reach. I'm also tempted to throw in some JJ at some point, but it will take a while. First, tell me if I should continue it or stop wasting mine and your time :). **

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**Out of the saddle**

Driving back from Hartford, Lorelai glanced at her daughter, smiling.

"So, what are your plans for the rest of the night? Calling Dean, spending some time with him?"

"I…" Hesitating slightly, Rory pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll wait until tomorrow. I'm tired. Long day."

"You sure? It's still early."

"I'm sure." Rory nodded, smiling as well. "You going by Luke's?"

"I need coffee. And food."

"Mom, you just had dinner."

"Yes, but dessert was sucky so I was thinking of stopping by for some pie. Since there's no Dean in the schedule, you can join me."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, what if Luke's grumpy? I can't deal with that!"

"Yes, you can. And Luke will not be grumpy."

"He's always grumpy. Especially late at night."

"Well then, be extra nice to him."

"I don't wanna."

"Mom…" Sighing, Rory laughed, looking at Lorelai.

"Fine, I'll try." Pulling the car into a parking spot close to the diner, she looked at her daughter again. "Last chance. Going once, going twice…"

"Night, mom. Don't stay out too late."

"I'll try."

"And no going off with a gang of bikers just because they looked cool." She pointed her finger at Lorelai, opening the car door.

"I never get to have any fun!"

"I'll see you at home. Bring me coffee." Stepping out of the car, Rory waved at her mother one last time before heading towards their house. Walking through the cool late winter night, she wrapped her jacket tighter around her body to shield herself from the wind.

"Cold?" A male voice pulled her from her thoughts, making her turn her head to look at him.

"Yes. And stop sneaking up on people."

"What'd be the fun in that?"

"In not giving me a heart attack? Oh, I'm sure I can think of some perks. What are you doing out anyway?"

Pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, he smirked, lighting it.

"Nothing much. On break from the gulag."

"Charming. Didn't Luke say you quit smoking?"

"Where's your mom?" He ignored her question, smirking and taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Diner. Jess, it's bad for you."

"Really? You'd think they'd put that on packs."

"Where do you even get cigarettes? I mean, this is Stars Hollow and I know Taylor cards you if you even look at them, so that's not it."

"I have my ways."

"You're not going to answer me, are you?"

"A magician never reveals his tricks."

"You're impossible."

"I'm fun."

Laughing, she shook her head, looking at him.

"You see, laughing just proves my point. So…where's Dean tonight?"

Suddenly turning serious, Rory shrugged. "Home, I suppose."

"What, you're not going to be all lovey-dovey tonight?"

"Not tonight. And, just for the record, I cannot believe you've just said lovey-dovey."

"Cold."

"What?"

"You talking about him. It just seems…cold. Everything alright there?"

"Yes. Everything's just fine." She huffed, looking down at her feet.

"Huh."

"Jess, everything between me and Dean is just fine. Thank you for your concern."

"You're welcome." He smirked, throwing his cigarette to the ground.

"That's littering."

"You can tell Taylor tomorrow, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to organize the pitchfork mob." Glancing at her house, barely visible in the distance, he shook his head. "I better go."

"Why?"

"Because, unless my eyesight's suddenly gone horribly bad, you were wrong and Stars Hollow's own Tiny Firefly is waiting for you in a very adoring puppy like way on your porch."

"Thanks." She smiled, turning around only to see him walk away in the opposite direction. Taking a deep breath, she started hurrying towards her house, hoping he hadn't seen them talking. Another fight was the last thing she wanted. Reaching the driveway, she slowed down as she saw the dejected look on his face. Wearily, she walked closer to him, smiling but before she could say anything, he took a deep breath, looking straight into her eyes.

"You like Jess, don't you?"

Wrapping her arms around her body, she took a small step back, biting her lip.

"Answer me, Rory." Dean stood up, not going any closer to her.

"I…"

"A simple yes or no will do."

"Don't do this, Dean."

"Don't do what, Rory? You're stringing me along and frankly, I've had just about enough. You're supposed to be my girlfriend and yet every single freaking day, you're at the diner, with him!"

"I was at the diner every day before he came to town as well. You're reading too much into things." She tried to argue weakly, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh, please. You're always with him."

"Is this about the basket? Because I explained that…"

"This is about more than that!" He cut her off, walking closer to her. "It's always him or your mom or Lane or the paper or school. Everything is more important than I am to you and I'm getting really freaking tired of this."

"Dean, I have to do those things!"

"You don't have to be with him!"

"Well, maybe if you gave me a bit more space, I wouldn't be!" The words flew out of her mouth before she could realize what she was saying.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't have to call 14 times in 3 hours! Constantly appear at my side! You're smothering me. We don't have to do everything together!"

"No, because you clearly want to do everything with him."

"Dean, come on." She pleaded with him but she shook his head, stepping closer to her.

"You like him."

"I love you."

"It doesn't really feel that way to me."

"You're being unfair."

"No, you are. Just say the freaking words and let's be done with this."

"What words?"

"Say you like him."

"Why?"

"I want to hear you saying it."

"Fine, I like him!" Snapping, Rory looked at him, biting her lip. Nodding almost imperceptibly, Dean stepped closer to her.

"Ok."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that you can go be with him."

"Dean…" She whispered, reaching out and touching his arm but he pulled back, looking at her.

"Have a nice life."

"Dean!" She called his name again but he ignored her, walking away before she could stop him. Biting her lip, she crashed on the front steps of her house, where he'd been sitting, trying to process what had just happened.


	2. Card tricks

**A/N: Aw, shucks, everyone. No more making me blush by being ridiculously nice to me from now on, ok? And since my day sucked and I got into a fight with the flatmate, here's a new chapter. It's surprising how much writing I get done when I'm avoiding people. Hope you like it, remember to leave a review and...that's it. Love you all. **

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**Card tricks **

A while later, Lorelai pulled the car into the driveway. Grabbing the two take away cups from the cup holder, she tried to juggle everything, slamming the car door shut with her foot. Turning to walk towards the house, she saw her daughter, still sitting on the steps and rushed towards her, dropping the coffees.

"Hon, what's wrong?" Sitting down next to Rory, she wrapped an arm around her and Rory hugged her, sniffling.

"I…"

"Rory, you're freaking me out here so please give me a sentence. Are you hurt? Did something happen?"

"Dean and I broke up."

"What? How? When? Do I have to kill him?"

"No, I'm just…" Inhaling sharply, Rory shook her head. "Can we not talk about it now?"

"Of course we can, sweetie." Hugging her tighter, Lorelai sighed, waiting for her to calm down.

"You dropped the coffee." Rory pointed out after a few minutes, pulling away and wiping her cheeks.

"We can go inside and make a new pot. It's not as good as Luke's, but it will do."

"I'm tired." Standing up, Rory shook her head. "I'll clean that and go to sleep." She stood up, pointing at the cups but Lorelai grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Don't worry about it, I'll do it. Are you ok?"

"No." She shook her head, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"What can I do?"

"Nothing."

"Rory…"

"Mom, I'm tired. And I need to sleep and not think about this for a few hours. We can talk in the morning."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She smiled weakly, walking inside the house, the emotions of the night still rushing through her. Watching the front door close behind her daughter, Lorelai stood up, quickly nixing the idea of going after Dean. Picking up the cups, she threw them in a trash can before walking inside the house, waiting for the lights to go off in Rory's room. Turning on the coffee machine, she crashed in a chair, getting ready for a long night.

* * *

Much later that night, Rory walked out of her room, finding Lorelai sleeping with her head on the table, an abandoned cup of coffee and a magazine next to her. Picking up the cup, she started washing the stuff, turning the machine on again once everything was clean. As soon as the strong smell of coffee started spreading throughout the room, Lorelai lifted her head, a dazzled expression on her face.

"I'm awake!" Lifting her hand to hold her neck, she winced in pain. "I am never, ever doing that again."

"What are you doing sleeping here?"

"The plan wasn't to sleep, trust me."

"Then what were you doing sitting here?"

"Just figured you might want to talk to someone."

"And I've lost my ability to walk up the stars somehow?"

"I don't know, I never said this was a well thought of plan! Why are you awake?"

Dropping two mugs filled with coffee on the table, Rory crashed in a chair, sighing.

"Can't sleep."

"Ready to talk about it?"

"He was here when I got home." She whispered, drinking from her mug. Quickly recounting their fight, she took a deep breath when she finished, biting her lip.

"So…Jess." Lorelai exhaled loudly, looking at her daughter.

"Jess what? There is no Jess."

"There is you liking Jess."

"I…" Rory lowered her head, staring at her mug. "Yeah, I suppose there's that."

"You're going to date him now?"

"Mom, even if I like him, it doesn't mean he likes me back. Plus, Dean and I just broke up and I don't know…I don't think I should date someone else yet."

"It doesn't matter what you should or shouldn't do. And if you honestly think he doesn't like you, then you need to be hit over the head with the obvious stick, because he's into you. Trust me."

"You think so?" Feeling blood rush to her cheeks, she bit her lip, trying to look cool.

"Oh, my goodness, you're blushing because Jess likes you."

"Mom…"

"Yes, I think so."

"So…does this mean that if I theoretically dated Jess, and I am not saying I agree with your crazy theory, you'd be ok with it?"

"This means that…I don't know. If you want to date Jess, go ahead. I don't have many options here."

"You could say no."

"I don't want to say no. Do I like Jess? Not really. Do I think he's a good guy? Again, not particularly. But I want you to be happy and if you think he'll make you happy…then, fine. Be with him."

"Mom, I'm not with him."

"Not yet, anyway. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to jump right in as soon as he hears about you and Dean." Seeing her daughter's expression change, Lorelai put her hand on her arm, trying to comfort her. "You ok there?"

"I kind of…forgot for a second."

"And then it hit you again."

"Yeah. How long until it gets easier?"

"I'd say a couple of weeks."

"Are you lying?"

"No." Lorelai smiled, finishing her coffee. "Are we ready for sleep now?"

"You look like you're about to crash on the table again any second so I'd say yes."

"And you'll be ok?"

"I will…take a long shower and then sleep."

"I can make some more coffee, we'll reheat the Chinese…"

"Mom, go to sleep. I'll come find you if I need you."

"Promise!" She pointed her finger at Rory, smiling.

"I promise." Pulling Lorelai up, she pushed her gently in the direction of the living room. "Sleep well."

"No matter what you need!"

"Night, mom."

* * *

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory were walking down the street. Leaning towards Lorelai, Rory wrapped her coat tighter around her body.

"They're all staring at me!"

"I…" Shrugging, Lorelai smiled. "You are exceptionally pretty today."

"You don't think they know, do you?"

"No. They definitely don't…"

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Walking up to them, Patty wrapped her arms around the young girl, not giving her space to breath. "Are you ok?"

"Apparently they know." Lorelai mumbled under her breath, watching her daughter extricate herself from the other woman's embrace.

"I'm fine."

"You sure? Because when Babette told me…"

"I'm sure." She cut the woman off quickly, shaking her head. "Thank you for your concern."

"If you need anything…"

"We're good, Patty." Pulling her daughter away quickly, Lorelai hurried towards the safety of the diner.

"How did they…?"

"We fought in front of the house. I don't even know why I didn't even think of Babette."

Rory replied, her voice cold. Wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders, Lorelai rubbed her arm.

"We can skip Luke's."

"You kidding me? I need coffee. And food."

"I can go by myself and bring back the loot."

"Mom, I'm not going to sit in the house for the next three months. They'll talk anyway."

"And this has nothing to do with…"

"No. This is about me refusing to hide."

"If you say so." She replied, trying to hide the unbelieving edge in her voice but Rory shot her a look, making her lift her hands in the air. "Fine, this isn't about him."

"It's not."

"Ok." Lorelai nodded, opening the door to the diner. Sitting at a table by the window, she glanced at Luke and saw him motioning for her to come over.

"I'll be right back."

"Bring coffee."

"Will do." Hurrying to the counter, she leaned over it, closer to Luke. "What is it?"

"How is she?"

"God, you know as well?"

"Babette was telling everyone this morning. What happened?"

"Your beloved nephew, that's what happened." She snapped at him, not bothering to pretend she was calm now that Rory was out of earshot.

"Jess? What did he have to do with this?"

Looking around her and noticing that at least three people were staring intently, trying to hear their conversation, Lorelai shook her head. "Not here. Upstairs."

"Caesar, cover for me." Luke shot at the man quickly, starting to head up the stairs with Lorelai following closely behind. Opening the door to the apartment, the man glanced around the room, seeing Jess lounging on the couch.

"Go downstairs and help Caesar."

"My shift doesn't start until 11."

"Jess!"

"Going." He grumbled, seeing Lorelai walking in behind him. Standing up, he grabbed his book, making sure to slam the door behind him.

"So what did he have to do with Rory and Dean breaking up?"

"Rory likes him."

"What?" The man stared at her, disbelief written across his face.

"She likes him and Dean picked up on it and broke up with her because of it."

"Wait, Rory likes Jess?"

"Yeah." She grumbled, looking at him.

"Oh, wow…"

"Oh, wow what, Luke?"

"You think they'll date now?"

"I don't know."

"This could be good."

"Oh, yeah. Please tell me how Rory dating that punk can be good because I am really not seeing it! I get that he's your nephew but I swear, if he hurts her in any way, there will be no safe place for him to hide on this planet!"

"He's never done anything for you to assume that he's going to hurt her!" Luke snapped back, trying to defend Jess.

"Really? You want me to go through the list?"

"Lorelai, he may have done some stupid, reckless things when he first came to town. But he's been cleaning up his act lately and, even at his worst, he never did anything to hurt her."

"There's that." Lorelai admitted, pouting slightly. "I still don't like it."

"You don't have to."

"And my threat still stands."

"Hey, I care about her as well. I'll make sure that he doesn't hurt her."

"You can't. She wants him, Luke and there's freaking nothing left for me to do."

"Lorelai…" The man let out a breath, frustrated.

"I'll kill him."

"I'll make sure he knows."

"Don't, they're not dating. If that happens, I'll…" She accentuated the word, looking at him. "…make sure he knows."

"Fine."

"Now can we go back downstairs before Rory starts wondering where I am?"

"You wanted to come up here." Luke smiled, opening the door, waiting for her to walk out again.

In the meantime, downstairs. Stepping into the diner filled with customers, Jess spotted her, sitting alone at a table, looking outside the window. Picking up the coffee pot and a mug, he walked to her, placing the cup on the table and filling it with coffee before sitting down.

"Something fascinating out there?"

"Not really." She looked at him, pulling the mug closer to her.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing much."

Nodding slowly, he pulled a pack of cards from his pocket, lifting it in the air. "Poker?"

"I don't play poker."

"Why not?"

"Don't really find it all that interesting, I suppose."

"I could suggest strip poker, that's bound to be more interesting." He smirked, looking at her before starting to shuffle the cards in his hand.

"Sounds like a great idea. I hear Miss Patty's a big fan, I'll ask her to join us."

Grimacing, Jess shook his head. "No, thanks." Extending his hand towards her, he offered her the pack. "Pick a card."

"Magic tricks again?"

"I lost my top hat, this will have to do."

"You're being nice to me."

"You say with such surprise in your voice."

"I just…never expected you to be nice to me because I'm heartbroken." The second she finished the sentence, she looked down, biting her lip.

"You can talk about it, if you want."

"I'm good." She hastily grabbed a card from the pack, trying to ignore the burning sensation in her fingers when she accidentally brushed them past his hand. After she put her card back on top of the pack, he started shuffling them again, his eyes never leaving her.

"You're never going to get this right if you don't pay attention to what you're doing."

"I am paying attention." He smirked, stopping and offering her the pack again. "Top card." Picking it up, she looked at it before showing it to him.

"Two of hearts."

"Your card, right?"

"Yes." She handed him back the card. "You'll have to teach me how to do that someday."

"What did I say last night?"

"I'll trade you."

"What do I get?"

"I have a copy of _Blood and Guts in High School_."

"I'll consider it." He smirked, lifting the pack in the air. "One more?"

"Sure." Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she smiled, a true, happy smile, picking up her coffee mug.

Walking into the diner again, Lorelai saw the two teenagers. Crossing her arms against her chest, she glanced at Luke.

"She's smiling."

"Lorelai, as much as you may hate it, he might make her happy."

"He better." She grumbled, heading back to the table.

* * *

Later that day, the girls were walking back to their house, a couple of DVDs in their hands.

"So, you and Jess seemed to be getting along quite nicely in the diner earlier."

"Mom, we were talking. That's it."

"What, I'm just saying…"

"Don't say. Supplies?" She pointed at the market.

"Sure. Chocolate, Mallomars, Red Vines…?" Stopping mid-sentence, Lorelai looked for Rory, who was still standing in the same spot. "Aren't you coming?"

"Mom…"

"Sorry. Idiot." Lorelai pointed at herself, handing Rory the DVDs. "Hold these, I'll be right back."

"Get ice cream." Rory yelled after her mother, hugging the DVDs tightly, sighing as she looked at the window of the store.

A few minutes later, Lorelai walked out of the store again, holding a huge bag in her arms.

"So…?"

"He wasn't in there."

"You think he's doing ok?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Very." Lorelai nodded, smiling as they started heading back home.

Halfway through _The Fly_, Lorelai looked at her daughter, who was looking at the half eaten Mallomar in her hand.

"Rory, honey, are you ok?"

"I…" Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head, looking at her mother. "I think I need to wallow."

"But you were doing so fine until now."

"I was. But I'm just…" Wiping her cheeks, she took a deep breath. "Last time we broke up, it didn't feel like this. This…feels final. I don't know why."

"And you're not ok with final?"

"I don't want to think if I'm ok or not."

"You want to wallow." She wrapped her arm around Rory, waiting for the girl to curl up to her, before pulling up a blanket to cover their feet.


	3. Care Package

**A/N: Sorry about the change of name, I just realized there's another story with the same one. Thank you for the reviews. **

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**Care Package**

"She won't talk to me, Luke. And she won't eat!"

"What?" The man poured her a cup of coffee, ignoring everyone else in the diner.

"Rory! She's barely getting out of bed. She goes to school, comes back, does her homework and then goes back to bed. I think she's had a sandwich in the last couple of days. That's it!"

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"Oh, why didn't that occur to me? Yes, of course I did!"

"And?"

"And she said she's fine. I'm worried."

"Do you want me to make something for her?"

"Sookie's been sending food over."

"Still nothing?"

"No." Lorelai shook her head, sighing. "I hate seeing her like this."

"But she seemed ok last time…"

"I know. But then she said she had to wallow and it's even worse than last time."

"What can I do?"

"Oh, Luke…" Flashing the man a weak smile, Lorelai shrugged. "Thank you. I don't think there's anything you can do."

"Lane…"

"She's been coming over every day. Rory talks to her, barely, and then she's back to just…lying there. She's not even reading."

"Maybe she's finished all the books on the planet?" He half-smiled, making Lorelai chuckle a little.

"I wouldn't be surprised, but no, I don't think so. I can't stand not being able to fix this for her."

"She'll be ok."

"Promise?"

"Promise." The man nodded, neither one of them noticing the young man that had been standing close enough to hear their entire conversation.

* * *

Later that night, Rory was sitting on the bridge, reading. Crashing down next to her, Jess pulled out his cigarettes and a book, glancing at her.

"I haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm avoiding the diner. The town, really." She smiled, putting her book down. "I needed some time to myself. Plus, everyone's staring at me and hugging me and asking me if I'm ok or telling me he's a jerk and I just couldn't take it. I thought I could at first, but it got a bit too much."

"I get it."

"What have you been up to?"

"Same old."

"School?"

"Sure, why not?" He smirked, lighting his cigarette.

"Jess…"

"Hey, how about we talk about you? I can stare."

"Fine." She sighed, watching him smoke.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Wallowing, I suppose."

"What?"

"Lying in bed, reading, watching movies, junk food…stuff like that."

"Girl thing, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled, looking at him. "Thank Luke for the supply of food he sent my way."

* * *

_Earlier that day. _

_Grabbing yet another bag filled with food from the kitchen, Jess dropped it in a box, before picking it up and heading for the door to the diner. Stepping in front of him, Luke stopped him._

"_Where are you going?" Looking at the box in Jess' hands, he pushed a few things aside. _

"_Out."_

"_With food and books and CDs?"_

"_Luke."_

"_You're going to her house, aren't you?" Luke smiled, looking at his nephew. _

"_Give me a break, will you?" Pushing past the man, he walked to the Gilmore house, trying to debate between knocking at her window and just leaving everything at the front door. Getting the third degree from Lorelai was the last thing he wanted. Before he could decide, the woman appeared from inside the house, stopping abruptly when she saw him._

"_Jesus, you scared me. What are you doing here, Jess?"_

"_Luke sent over food." _

"_The copy of 'The Subterraneans' also his?" _

"_I'm just…"_

"_Funny, I never figured Luke for an Elastica fan either." _

"_He sent over food, I added some books and music. Mostly just returning her stuff, so don't read too much into it, ok?"_

"_I think it's nice of you."_

"_Just…don't tell her I did this." _

"_Ok." Lorelai nodded, smiling at the young man. Handing her the box, Jess turned away and started walking down the stairs. As he reached the last step, he turned around, looking back at Lorelai. _

"_How is she?"_

"_She'll be ok." _

* * *

"I'll send your thanks." Jess took a drag of his cigarette, looking at her.

"Thank you for the books and music." She smiled softly and he looked at her, surprised. "Mom is a very bad liar. She did try to cover for you."

"Well, at least I had good intentions."

"Why'd you do it?"

"There's nothing like Kerouac to make one feel better."

"Thank you." She smiled again, biting her lip. "It helped."

"Good."

"I should go." She stood up, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure I want to be out of the house yet. Mom even offered to pull me out of school for a few days."

"And you said no." He blew smoke out, looking up at her.

"It's nice, but unnecessary. I like having something to occupy my brain with."

"Why'd you come out? I mean, if you don't want to face the great outdoors…"

"I just wanted to thank you."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"I got that."

"I just think it was a very nice thing of you to do."

"I brought over some food. It's not that big of a deal."

"It is for me, so thank you. And now I'm going to stop saying that, because you look like you're uncomfortable and that wasn't my intention. Not tonight, at least."

"Finally." He smirked, throwing his cigarette butt in the lake. "Yeah, I know, littering."

"I'm blinded by gratitude, I didn't see a thing."

"Going back to cloistering yourself now?"

"Until the gossip dies down, at least."

"Want me to give them something new to talk about?"

"It's not worth it, they'd have moved to something else by next Monday, I think."

"If you change your mind…" He offered, opening his book as she started taking small steps in the direction of her house.

"I'll come find you."

"Rory?" His voice called again when she was almost next to the trees.

"Yeah?"

"What'd you think of the book?"

"I put some notes on post-its and left them in there. The margins were full."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. More to read." She shrugged, still walking backwards towards the street. "Good night, Jess."

"Night."

As soon as she reached her house again, she walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch next to her mother.

"Had a good walk?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's good you went out of the house, kid." Squeezing Rory's arm gently, she smiled. "I was getting worried."

"I'm done wallowing. Right now I'm just trying to avoid the gossip."

"Want me to get ridiculously drunk before the next town meeting and embarrass myself in public? That should be enough to take their minds of this, I think."

"No, thank you." She snickered, looking at her. "Though I appreciate how everyone is willing to help and give the townies something new to talk about."

"Everyone?" Lorelai looked at her daughter, surprised. "What'd I miss?"

"I…uh…ran into Jess."

"And he offered as well?"

"Yeah, he did." Rory bit her lip, nodding, feeling blood rushing to her cheeks again.

"He's really going for the nice guy points here, isn't he?"

"He is a nice guy."

"He'd be so much more convincing if he wasn't trying so hard to be a smartass half the time."

"Mom…"

"Did he at least convince you to go back to the diner with me? Because Luke is really lousy company most of the time."

"He didn't try."

"Maybe I should ask him, you didn't seem to be willing to eat that much either until he brought over food."

* * *

_Walking inside her daughter's room after knocking on the half open door, Lorelai smiled._

"_I have food from Luke's."_

"_How? You were gone for a minute."_

"_Must have…seemed that way to you?" Lorelai flinched, sitting down on the edge of the bed, the box in her hands. "Let's see…fries and cheeseburger? Or pancakes? Bacon? God, he really did put everything in here." She started scouring through the bag, pushing stuff to the side with one hand to be able to identify the contents of the various containers better. _

"_Mom, there are books in here. And CDs." Rory realizes, pulling out a Coldplay CD from the box. "Luke didn't do this, did he?"_

"_He said I shouldn't tell you." _

"_Jess…" She whispered the name and her mother nodded._

"_I wasn't sure if you'd want to see him and he didn't seem that keen on coming inside either, so I didn't ask but yeah. He just dropped it off. Said the food's from Luke though."_

"_Don't trust him, he has a habit of lying about that one." She smiled, remembering the night he'd brought over way too much food._

"_He's done this before?"_

"_Remember when you went to the spa with grandma? Turns out Luke didn't know anything about the food."_

"_I still don't like him." Lorelai stood up, suddenly angry. "And his weaseling into your life and making me not not like him anymore is annoying!"_

"_You're annoyed because…he's not annoying you anymore?"_

"_Yes." Lorelai admitted, sighing. "But this was nice of him."_

"_Thank him for me next time you're at the diner."_

"_I will. Now…are you willing to try some of the food he brought over?"_

_Exhaling loudly, Rory grabbed a box containing some pancakes and looked at her mother. "Can you get me a fork?"_

* * *

"I was just ready to eat then. It happened to coincide with him bringing over food."

"Just like you were ready to go out of the house tonight?"

"I didn't know I'd run into him."

"But you didn't avoid it either."

"No." Rory admitted, looking at her mother.

"Don't…rush into anything, ok?"

"I'm not." She shook her head, picking up a cold slice of pizza from the table. "I think I'm going to go back to bed. I have a book to finish."

"You're still going to be talking tomorrow?"

"Yes." Rory nodded, heading towards her room. "I'm done." She announced again, smiling.

"You sure? Because I haven't even pulled out the sad movies yet."

"I'm sure."


	4. Frustration

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, you're all very, very awesome. **

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**Frustration **

"Nothing!"

Rory whined a couple of weeks later, throwing herself on Lane's bed.

"In the closet, mama Kim's home. She'll hear us." Opening the door to the closet, the two girls snuck in, sitting on the floor and turning on the music. "Continue. I assume we're talking about Jess."

"Yeah. I haven't seen…him yet."

"That's impressive."

"Trust me, evasive maneuvers have been in place since it happened."

"Ok, let's go back to the other thing. What do you mean nothing?"

"Nothing. It's…exactly the same as it was before that. I see him at the diner, we talk, trade books and that's it."

"Seriously?"

"I think mom may have been wrong." She bit her lip, looking at her best friend.

"When she said she thinks he likes you?"

"Yeah." Blushing softly, she shrugged. "He knows about the thing, but he's not doing anything."

"Stupid thought, but have you considered doing something? Maybe he doesn't know you like him."

"Hey, as far as I'm concerned, I don't think he likes me either. It was some stupid game to him and now that Dean's no longer in the picture, he's lost all interest."

"I don't think so. I mean he brought you food."

"He's a friend, he was concerned."

"We all were."

"And I appreciate it. But now I'm good, I'm up, walking, back at the diner…everything."

"Maybe he's trying to give you time?" Lane offered again, smiling.

"I don't need time, I know what I want."

"Really? Because as I remember it, Dean had to be the one to tell you what you want."

"Lane…"

"Sorry." Lifting her hands up in the air, she shook her head.

"I hate that we're doing this. I want to be with him, why can't he see that?"

"Just tell him, Rory."

"No." The girl shook her head furiously. "If he wants this too, then he needs to get off his butt and do something."

"His very cute butt." Lane grinned, looking at her friend. "Sorry, am I not allowed to check out your boyfriend's butt?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Which, I believe, is the entire point of this conversation."

"You don't think he doesn't want to…?"

"Doesn't want to what?"

"Ok, even accepting that what mom said was right, maybe he just doesn't want to have a girlfriend. He's Jess, he's so…"

"So much of a jerk at times?"

"I was going to go for aloof. And I'm not like any of the girls he must have known in New York."

"No, you're better."

"Lane…"

"What, you're my best friend, you know I think you're the best girl on Earth and no one is worthy of you."

"Thank you, but that's not the point. Maybe he doesn't want to try to have a relationship. With me."

"Or anyone else."

"I'm not that concerned about anyone else."

"I don't think he would have gone to all the trouble he's been going to if he didn't want you. And he'd be an idiot to waste this chance."

"Again, thank you, but…you're sure?"

"Yes. Just…next time you two sneak off to the bridge together, just see if he says something. And if he doesn't…plant some subtle hints?"

"Like?"

"What am I, Cosmo? I don't know. You've at least had a boyfriend. I had Henry, which I'm sure we can all agree isn't a great example of anything."

"And that turned out great. I am not good with this." Sighing, she lay back against the wall, hugging one of the pillows tightly. "Why can't it be easy?"

"Because then it wouldn't be fun. I still say you should tell him."

"I don't want him to think I'm desperate."

"But sitting in my closet, ranting about this…?"

"Is perfectly acceptable as long as he doesn't know."

"Right." The Korean girl nodded. "What does Lorelai say?"

"I haven't talked to her about this. She's trying her best, but she doesn't really like him so it's a bit of a thou-shall-not-be-spoken-of situation."

"I thought the food and books helped."

"They did. But then she remembered all the things he's done and now is back to a grudging acceptance that he might be a nice guy, but she doesn't want to like him. She's stubborn."

"So, you two are related then." Grinning, Lane looked at her friend. "It will happen."

"Thank you for being supportive of this. I know you don't…"

"He won major points when he brought supplies over."

"I know, right?" Biting her lip, she smiled. "It was…"

"Sweet. Which is the one word I never thought I'd associate with Jess in a million years."

"I really like him, Lane." Rory admitted, suddenly more serious.

"Yeah, breaking up with your boyfriend over him kind of makes it obvious."

"Dean broke up with me."

"And you were relieved you didn't have to do it yourself."

"Is it crazy?"

"Maybe." Lane shrugged. "But it's exciting crazy."

"Now if only he did something…" Rory smiled wistfully, turning the music up a bit.

* * *

A couple of days later, Lorelai walked in the kitchen, throwing her shoes off along the way.

"That's it! I'm quitting my job. Of course, this means we'll lose the house and move in a…what the…?"

Turning around to look at her mother, Rory stopped scrubbing the stove.

"Move in a what?"

"Rory, what in God's name are you doing?"

"Cleaning."

"Cleaning the stove that's never been used?"

"Just looked dirty to me. By the way, I've also organized your closet and there's a load of laundry in the machine. We go through a lot of socks in one week. There's fresh coffee." The girl pointed to the pot, smiling.

"Ok, sit down."

"But the…"

"The stove will wait."

After Rory sat down, Lorelai filled two mugs with coffee before sitting down as well, looking at her.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Rory…"

"Mom, it's nothing. The house was just messy."

"And Jess still hasn't done anything."

"That obvious?"

"Well, yeah. Plus, I assume you'd have told me if something had happened."

"You want me to tell you?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Yes."Lorelai nodded, drinking from her mug. "I would rather know."

"Make sure you have the time to sharpen the axe? Clean the shotgun?"

"That too. But I want to know for the same reason I wanted to know stuff about Dean."

"But you don't like Jess."

"No, but you're still my daughter. And that means I want to know."

"Ok. I will tell you if something happens. Which it won't."

"Why?"

"Because he's stupid and stubborn and stupid, did I mention that?"

"He's a guy, they're like that. You can just do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, walk up to him next time you see him and say 'hey, would you maybe like to go see a movie?' or something like that."

"What if he says no?"

"What if he says yes?"

"And…that's ok? Just asking him out like that?"

"It's not 1950, you can ask a boy out."

"But what if he says no?"

"Didn't we just cover that?"

"I'm scared."

"Oh, hon…" Lorelai smiled, rubbing Rory's arm. "It's ok to be scared. But he'll say yes and then you'll stop stressing over this. Not that I don't appreciate all the cleaning or that it wasn't actually needed. Maybe not the oven, but everything else is very nice."

"I can hold off on this until I'm done cleaning the house." Rory grinned, looking at her mother.

"Not much left now, is it?"

"I may have cleaned the living room as well earlier."

"Don't hold off. Just…go to the diner and tell him."

"What, now?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's…I don't know."

"Because you're a chicken. And I swear, if you say that he'll say no one more time, I will drag you there myself and ask him for you."

"Great, my mom is offering to ask guys out for me."

"If you won't do it…"

"I'll do it, ok?"

"Let's go then." Standing up, Lorelai looked at her daughter, waiting for her to stand up.

"Now?"

"Yes!"

"Can I at least wipe the…?"

"Momentum, Rory!"

"Mom, I…"

"Momentum!" Lorelai started snapping her fingers and Rory stood up, grabbing her coat from the hallway. Starting to walk rapidly towards the diner, Rory looked at her mother, smiling.

"You're insane."

"Hey, you're the one that's been cleaning the house because of a boy."

"I was cleaning the house because it needed cleaning."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, honey."

Reaching the diner, Rory slowed down, stopping a few feet away from the door.

"Oh, the power walking comes to an end." Lorelai grinned, trying to catch her breath, looking at her daughter. "You ok?"

"I can't do this!"

"What?"

"I can't just walk in there and ask him out!"

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't."

"Rory…"

"Mom…" Rory looked at her mother, mimicking the expression on her face.

"If you don't go in there and ask him, I will."

"Why are you so supportive all of a sudden? You don't like Jess!"

"No, but you do. And I want you to be happy, so I will disregard my not liking him for you to be happy."

"You shouldn't! You should lock me in my room, telling me how bad he would be for me and that I am not allowed to ever go near him."

"Don't tempt me." Lorelai smiled, standing in front of Rory and putting her hands on her arms. "I am going to give him every chance I can but he is going to be walking on very thin ice with me for a while. A long while. Now you have to go in there and actually give me a reason to give him that chance. Because if you don't want to date him, I will be more than happy to resume my hatred of him."

"He's Luke's nephew!"

"Way to point out the obvious."

"If he says no, I'll never be able to show my face at Luke's ever again!"

"We'll go when he's not working and make Luke lock him in the apartment so you don't run into him. For about three months, until it becomes a funny story."

"I don't want him to say no."

"You need to ask him if you want him to say anything."

Biting her lip, Rory nodded. "I'm going in."

"I'll be right behind you."

Walking into the diner, slamming the door open in the process, Rory looked around her, trying to find the dark haired boy.

"Luke, where's Jess?"

"Upstairs, he just finished…" Seeing the girl march behind the curtain, he turned to Lorelai, confused. "What's going on?"

"Get me some coffee and I'll tell you all about it."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Rory took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the apartment.


	5. Peep Show

**A/N: I had a lot of free time on my hands this week and I promised Midnight-Gypsy101 an update today, so here it goes. Enjoy and thank you for the reviews. **

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**Peep Show**

_Reaching the top of the stairs, Rory took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the apartment._

Stepping in the middle of the room, she looked around her, confused by the apparently empty apartment. Walking towards what she guessed to be Jess' side of the room, she turned around when she heard footsteps, finding herself face to face with a shirtless Jess, toweling his hair off. Turning around quickly and blushing, she closed her eyes tightly.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Rory…"

"I swear I saw nothing, less than nothing really, and I am so sorry, did I mention that, because I am very sorry!" She shot in quick fire, her eyes still closed.

"It's fine." Jess chuckled, amused by her embarrassment, walking to the dresser and opening the top drawer, starting to look for a shirt.

"I really am…"

"Sorry, yeah I got that." He smirked again, pulling a t-shirt on. "What's going on?"

"I was going to…uh…"

"You can look now, by the way. I'm all proper." He drew out the last sentence.

"I'm good, actually."

Stepping in front of her, he laughed again. "Seriously?"

Opening one eye, she looked at him, grimacing. "Who showers in the middle of the day?"

"I just got off work. I smelled like fish and cheese."

"There are worse combinations."

"There are better. I'm a fan of soap."

"Yeah, uh, me too." She stuttered again, biting her lip.

"So, I assume you didn't come here just for the free peep show. Or to discuss my showering habits."

"What?"

"Was there something you wanted?" He smiled, looking at her.

"I was just wondering if…um…you'd…" She shook her head, changing her mind. "You know what? Never mind."

Turning around, she headed for the door while he watched her, now confused.

"Rory…"

"Sorry I bothered you. And walked in on you. Just sorry, ok?"

"Rory!" He called her name out again but she rushed down the stairs, leaving him alone, shaking his head.

Storming down the stairs, she reached the diner, almost running into Kirk who was standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey, what happened?" Lorelai looked at her, but Rory just kept walking towards the door.

"What?" Luke asked but Lorelai shrugged.

"I have no idea." Standing up, she picked up her purse, smiling at the man. "Thank you for the coffee." Walking outside, she caught up to Rory, putting her hand on her arm and stopping her. "What happened? Did he say no? Did he laugh? What did he do?"

"He was naked!"

"Wow, that's eager. I am going to rip his…" Turning around, Lorelai started walking back towards the diner, but Rory stopped her this time, catching her wrist.

"You're not going to do anything."

"The little jerk got naked and you expect me to…"

"He didn't get naked. He was naked. Wait, we're using the wrong word here. Not naked!"

"He wasn't naked?"

"Shirtless."

"So you ask him out and he takes out his shirt? What does he think you are? Some sort of two dollar…"

"Mom, I didn't ask him!"

"Will you let me finish a sentence for once?" Lorelai asked, suddenly more relieved. "You didn't ask?"

"No. He was in the shower, and walked out and he was shirtless so I just…left. He probably thinks I'm crazy."

"I'm sure he had a good indication that you're crazy even before this."

"Raise your hand if you're not helping!"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"That we're going to go home now and forget all about this?"

"Oh, no, no way. We may be going home, but this is definitely not going to be forgotten." Lorelai laughed, looking at her daughter. "Your cheeks are about twenty million shades of red."

"He was shirtless, did I mention that?"

"And that made you blush like that? What, that good?" Taking Rory's arm, they started heading towards their house again.

"Yes. No. I don't know."

"Pick one."

"I only caught a glimpse."

"And the glimpse was…?"

"It was far too embarrassing for me to take notice if it was good or not."

"And here I thought I raised you better than that. You must know that if you see a boy shirtless, mommy's going to want details."

"If this happens again, I will make sure to take notes. Maybe take a picture."

"You anticipate walking in on Jess shirtless often?"

"I hope not. Once was more than enough."

"So that means it was bad." Lorelai grinned, laughing.

"That means I made enough of a fool of myself today to never want to experience that again."

"But it was…"

"God, will you give up on that? It was good, ok? The very short glimpse I saw looked good. There, are you happy?"

"You saw a boy shirtless and liked it!" She gloated victoriously, making Rory shake her head.

"Maturity has…"

"Absolutely nothing to do in my life."

"At least you realize that." Rory rolled her eyes.

"What about asking him out?"

"Postponed until I can look at him without blushing."

"Not cancelled?"

"No." She bit her lip, looking at Lorelai. "At least I don't think so."

"Good."

"You sure?"

"I was the one pushing you to do this. If you need more reassurance that he'll say yes before you decide to ask him again, I am here with pompoms and possibly huge foam fingers."

"Thanks."

"I will start sewing myself a cheerleader outfit."

"Now you're taking it a bit too far."

"Oh, go on, I'd look cute in a tiny skirt."

"You'd look good in a straightjacket."

"If you're mean to me, I will go tell the boy you like him."

"You're never getting any more information from me. Ever!"

* * *

Walking into the diner the next afternoon, Rory sat at a table, pulling out her notes while waiting for her mother to get there.

"Anything fun?" A voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked up, seeing Jess standing next to her table, filling a mug with coffee.

"Chemistry."

"They at least teach you how to make meth?"

"I think that knowledge is reserved for less fancy schools."

"I don't know, they never gave me that class and I haven't exactly spent my time in private school." Pulling up a chair, he sat down, glancing over her notes. "Looks about as painful as I suspected it to be."

"Jess, they teach chemistry at Stars Hollow High."

"I'm sure they do. I just have no interest in finding out."

"You're frustrating."

"I'm easily bored."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You expect me to sit through an hour long class on something I have no interest in just because?"

"I don't. The school does. It's part of the whole graduating thing. They ask crazy things, like going to school and paying attention and stuff."

"I'll make a mental note, next time the principal talks to me I'll at least know why he's pissed off."

"The principal's talked to you?"

"Not this one. Yet."

"How about you keep it that way by showing up?"

"I'll think about it."

"Jess, where's the damned coffee pot?" Luke yelled from behind the counter and the young man extended his arm, holding the pot in it, not looking at him or moving from his seat.

"Here."

"What, you have a stroke and forgot where it goes?"

"Sorry, uncle Luke, Rory was just helping me with something for school." He smiled, finally looking at the man, an innocent expression on his face while the girl bit her lip, hoping to stifle her giggles.

"Oh…uh…don't take too long!" Luke hesitated before rushing behind the counter, leaving the teens laughing.

"You're a jerk." She finally whispered when she caught her breath again, still grinning.

"You were explaining the educational system to me, that should count as helping out." Jess looked at her, the fake innocent look still on his face. Sliding his chair closer to hers, he pretended to look at the book, not noticing the slight increase in her breathing rhythm. "Luke's watching, pretend you're showing me something in here."

Nodding, she took a piece of paper and started writing a reaction, her eyes glued down, hoping he wouldn't notice her blushing.

"So, what was yesterday all about?" Jess whispered, glancing at her.

"Doesn't matter."

"You sure?"

"Please don't bring it up again, it was nothing important."

"Aw, now you've made me even more curious." He smirked, picking up a pen and twirling it between his fingers.

"I was just going to ask if you'd seen my copy of _Fahrenheit 451_. I found it late last night, so see? It really was nothing big."

"That's it?"

"Yes." She nodded rapidly, her eyes still not leaving the notebook.

"You seemed very…intent for someone just looking for a book."

"I wanted to re-read it. I get odd about books sometimes."

"I know."

"Can we drop the subject now, please?"smirk

"And do what, focus on chemistry?"

"It's fun."

"Only if you're doing the aforementioned meth." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I should get back to work anyway before Luke kills me."

"But I'll get bored."

"Your mother's walking this way, I'm sure you can entertain yourself for two minutes."

"I'll try." She flashed him a small smile and he stood up, pointing at the counter.

"I'll be over there when you decide you want food." He announced before starting to walk towards the cash register but changed his mind halfway through, going back to her table. "Hey, Rory…?"

"Yeah?" She looked up at him, absentmindedly biting the end of her pen. Shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans, he took a deep breath.

"You forgot a two in front of the nitrate." He shot quickly as he changed his mind again before hurrying to the counter. Looking after him, she bit her lip, confused but before she got a chance to stand up and follow him, Lorelai sat down at her table, groaning.

"Longest day ever!"

Turning her attention to her mother, Rory smiled, waiting for the woman to start telling her about her day, ignoring the pair of brown eyes watching her from behind the counter.


	6. Misunderstanding Gone Wrong

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, keep 'em coming.**

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**Misunderstanding Gone Wrong**

A couple of days later, Rory walked into Andrew's, smiling at the man behind the counter before heading for the back shelves, looking at the books around her. Placing a hand on the shelf next to her, Jess leaned closer to her.

"Hey."

"Stop doing that!" She shook her head, turning around, finding herself very close to him. Biting her lip, she looked into his eyes, blushing and he smirked, picking up a book from the shelf behind her before pulling back a bit.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why should I stop?" He chuckled, leafing through the book.

"Because you're going to scare me to death one of these days."

"And?"

"And then you'll have no one you can steal books from."

"Borrow." He smirked, putting the book back in the shelf, brushing his hand on her arm in the process. Shuddering slightly from the contact, she tried to stay calm, turning around to look at the books again. Looking over her shoulder, Jess watched as she passed her fingers over the spines of the books, picking one up.

"You already have that one."

"What, you've memorized my book collection?" Rory shoved the book back.

"No, I just happened to notice that one. I may have accidentally dropped some notes in as well while noticing it."

"You are a magician." She replied sarcastically, trying not to laugh.

"I'll take it on the road and make a fortune. Wanna join me?" He smirked, looking her up and down. "We'll get you a sparkly outfit…"

Feeling her cheeks staring to burn again, for what felt like the millionth time in the past five minutes, Rory glared at him. "I'm good here, thanks."

"If you change your mind…" He shrugged, still smirking before picking up another book.

"I'll let you know." She smiled, grabbing a book as well.

A while later, she glanced at the watch on her wrist then looked at the boy now sitting next to her on the floor of the bookshop.

"I should go home. Mom's probably waiting for me."

"Ok." He nodded, looking up from his book.

"Shouldn't you go back to work or something?"

"No."

"No, you shouldn't or no, you're not going to?"

"You don't want to keep Lorelai waiting, do you?" He chuckled, making her shake her head as she stood up.

"I'll see you around, Jess."

"Probably."

"Bye." Waving at him one more time, she walked out of the shop, getting ready to head towards her house, when she ran into someone who was standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Lifting her head, she bit her lip, worriedly.

"Hey, Dean."

"Hi." He answered, his voice just as weary as hers. "How…"

"I have something to do." She pointed in a random direction before crossing her arms across her chest. "Bye."

"Bye." The young man waved as she rushed towards her house, not looking back at him.

* * *

The next afternoon, Rory walked into the almost empty diner and sat down at a table. Looking around her, she spotted Jess and waved at him but he turned around, a morose expression on his face. After a few seconds, he walked back out of the kitchen, Luke's voice still grumbling something from the small room. Heading for her table, he dropped a cup and filled it with coffee, looking at her.

"What do you want?"

"What?" She looked up at him, smiling.

"Food." Jess rolled his eyes, his voice gruff.

"I…uh…" Rory hesitated, not knowing what to think of his attitude. "I don't know yet."

"Fine. Let me know when you've made up your mind." Grabbing the coffee pot again, the young man walked back behind the counter, pulling a book out and starting to read, not even glancing in her direction. Biting her lip, she stood up, walking to him.

"Something wrong?"

"No." Jess shot back, not looking up from his book.

"Jess, come on, you can tell me."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Jess…"

"Everything's peachy. Now have you decided what you want for lunch?" He finally looked straight into her eyes, a slight hint of anger in his voice and she wrapped her arms around her body.

"I'm not hungry anymore." Pulling a dollar bill from her pocket, she threw it on the counter in front of him before grabbing her book from the table and storming out of the diner. After a few minutes of aimless wondering around town, she stopped in front of her best friend's house, taking a deep breath before walking in.

"Lane's at church." The older woman announced, looking at her.

"But it's…"

"She was in music shop. She must pray."

"Fine." Walking outside again, she considered walking to the inn before remembering her mother complaining about the piles of work she had to do. Seeing the diner again, she made up her mind quickly as she started hurrying towards it, barging inside, finding Jess still at the counter.

"What the hell's your problem?"

"What?" The young man glanced at her, putting his book down.

"I mean fine, you're angry, whatever, but what did I do to you to deserve that freaking attitude?"

Taken aback, Jess opened his mouth, trying to answer but she didn't give him a chance to as she started another tirade.

"I asked what's wrong because I'm your friend. At least I thought I was, but you clearly don't seem to think so. However, that doesn't mean that you have to take it out on me unless it's actually something I did and I really don't remember doing anything that could have made you mad. If that's the case, then tell me what the hell I did. If it's not, then bring me a burger with fries and coffee and stop acting like a huge jackass."

"Done?" Trying to stay calm, he put his hands on the counter, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes."

"I'll go get your food." Jess announced, getting ready to head to the kitchen but her voice stopped him again.

"That's it?"

"Should there be more?"

"You're still not going to tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing." He snapped, looking at her. "Go worry about your boyfriend and give me a break, will you?"

Disconcerted, Rory bit her lip, taking a small step back. "Wow…you are a jerk." Shaking her head, she tried to stay calm until she could be out of the door.

"Rory…" He called out her name but she was outside already, not bothering to look back.

* * *

Walking inside her house later that afternoon, Lorelai dropped her purse, looking for her daughter.

"Rory! Come on, where are you? I'm starving!" Poking her head in the living room, she still couldn't see her. "Sookie was making something ridiculously fancy so I didn't get a chance to have lunch and I really, really need a burger!" She continued shouting, making her way to the kitchen. "I was thinking we could go to Luke's, we'll get a ton of food and then maybe catch a movie if you don't have too much studying to do. They're showing _Plan 9_, and we've never seen it properly on a big screen." Knocking at her door, Lorelai pushed it open, finding Rory on the bed, trying to read.

"I'm not hungry." She announced, putting her book down.

"The come join me while I get food. You're reading, which means your schoolwork's done. Please, please, please." Lorelai begged, sitting down on her daughter's bed.

"I don't want to go to Luke's." Rory shook her head, still angry.

"What?" Lorelai tried to understand, furrowing her brow in confusion. "That's a new one."

"Mom…"

"What, I'm just saying you're not one to usually turn down the greatest coffee know to man. Especially not lately, since a young hoodlum seems to always be making sure your mug is filled."

"I'm not in the mood for coffee either. And he can go to hell!"

"Hon, did you and Jess get in a fight?" Lorelai smiled, trying to sound sympathetic.

"Oh, no, because fighting is just not done in his world." Standing up, Rory started pacing around the room, not looking at her mother. "I go in there and he's in a bad mood so I ask him what's wrong and next thing I know he's telling me to worry about my boyfriend and I hate him!" She ranted before finally glancing at Lorelai. "So, yes, you were right all along, he's a jerk."

"Ok, back up and explain this better."

"What's there to explain? He's an idiot." Rory grumbled, throwing herself on the bed. "And I really don't want to see him tonight so if you want burgers, we're going to have to go to Jojo's."

"Go on, Rory, I haven't eaten all day and you want me to suffer through that?"

"Al's." The young girl frowned again, tilting her head to the side.

"But I want burgers. Trust me, this is not a normal craving. This is the roasted nuts case of '99 all over again."

"We drove for hours…" Sighing, Rory looked at her mother. "Go by yourself, I'll meet you at the cinema. Final offer."

"So you're going to let him win!" Lorelai quickly made up her mind, a confident smile on her face. "You're going to let him have the diner with his stupid jerkiness."

"Mom, I know what you're trying to…"

"I mean, it's ok, you've only been going there for what?…Four, five years before he showed up, and now you're going to give him the satisfaction of winning without even putting up a fight?"

"It's not going to work."

"I thought I raised you better than that! Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live...at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now…"

"You're giving me the _Braveheart_ speech? Really?"

"Would you be willin' to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance…" Lorelai continued on her speech in an exaggerated Scottish accent, standing up and walking around the room.

"You're not going to stop, are you?"

"To come back here and tell our enemies…"

"I give up." Rory stood up, rolling her eyes. "I'm coming with you, but I refuse to talk to him."

"Yay!" Lorelai clapped her hands excitedly, taking her daughter's arm and starting to head for the door, not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind.


	7. Talking good, okay?

**A/N: I have written 3 different version of this chapter. I'm not sure if I want to kill myself or this story, but something must die and it probably's going to be my sanity. So be nice and leave a review, ok?**

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**Talking good, okay?**

_Earlier that day._

_After watching his nephew bark at customers for the entire day, Luke had had enough._

_"Caesar, you're on your own." Walking to the young man and grabbing his sleeve, he pointed at the curtain. "Upstairs."_

_"What?"_

_"Drop that rag and go upstairs."_

_Throwing the rag on the counter, Jess walked to the small apartment, stopping in the middle of the room. "Yeah?"_

_"What the hell's wrong with you?"_

_"Nothing." The young man almost growled, clenching his fists._

_"Jess, come on, you can talk to me."_

_"What, you got rejected for being Dr. Phil's replacement and decided to practice on me?"_

_"What's gotten into you today?"_

_"I'd say nothing, but then we'd be going in circles."_

_"Did Liz say something when she called?"_

_"You mean when you called her and made me talk to her? No." He rolled his eyes, tapping his foot._

_"School?"_

_"No." Jess threw his head back, remembering that they'd changed his classes again and now he had to be in the same room as the floppy-haired idiot twice a day. "Done?"_

_"Is this about whatever you and Rory were fighting over earlier?"_

_"God, will you back off?" He started pacing around the room, trying to resist the urge to light a cigarette._

_"I guessed it, didn't I?"_

_"Good job, I'll get you a prize."_

_"What's going on, Jess?"_

_"She's back with that cretin, ok?" Jess finally burst, turning around and glaring at his uncle. "They were talking and then he fucking followed her and I can't believe I ever thought I…" Shutting up midsentence, he shook his head. "Know what, never mind. That's it, now you know, can I go back to work? Because if you don't need me, I'm sure I can find something better to do with my time."_

_"Do you even know for sure they're dating again?" Luke hesitated, not knowing if he should tell his nephew what he knew about the breakup._

_"It's pretty fucking obvious. So?"_

_"So what?"_

_"Work?"_

_"No." The older man, shook his head. "Take a walk, go to the bookshop, do whatever it is you do to calm down. Then talk to her. Apologize." Luke tried to talk to his nephew but Jess shook his head, glaring at him._

_"Why the hell should I apologize?"_

_"Because you're an idiot. You jumped to a ridiculous conclusion without even bothering to check if it's true or not. And, even if she is dating him again, you have no right to get all huffed up about it."_

_"Whatever." Jess walked outside, slamming the door behind him._

* * *

Walking into the diner, Lorelai and Rory sat down at a table as Luke walked up to them, an order pad in his hands.

"What can I get you?"

As Lorelai started rattling her order, Rory looked around her, seeing Jess stand behind the counter, watching her. Hesitantly, he motioned for her to come over, but Rory turned her head to look back at the older man instead, in as dramatic a fashion as she could, asking him for food, realizing how hungry she actually was. As soon as Luke was gone, Jess walked to their table, not even looking at Lorelai, focusing his attention on Rory instead.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"So, Saturday I was thinking we can go shopping in Hartford." She started speaking, completely ignoring him, while Lorelai was trying not to laugh.

"Come on, Rory."

"I saw these really cute shoes when I was walking to the bus stop the other day that I think would look great with your red dress."

"Please?" He kept looking at her and she finally glanced up after a few seconds, seeing his serious expression.

"You have two minutes." Rory stood up, rolling her eyes at her mother, making her giggle, before following the young man behind the curtain. As he started heading up the stairs, Rory stopped, looking at him.

"This is cutting into your time, I hope you realize that."

"Fine." Jess grumbled, turning around to look at her. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry. For earlier."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"Rory…"

"Oh, no, you don't get to have an attitude this time. If you want to apologize, you're going to at least act like you mean it."

"I was a jerk."

"Well, yeah." She nodded, trying to hide her amusement.

"I saw you with him and then he went after you and I assumed that…whatever. I'm just sorry, ok?"

"Apology accepted." Turning around to leave, Rory thought of something so she looked at him again. "Oh, and Jess? I'm not."

"You're not…what?" Jess finally took his hands out, relaxing a bit.

"Back with…him."

"Ok." He nodded twice, stepping closer to her.

"He didn't come after me. He walked in the same direction, which I didn't even know he did until you told me, by the way. What you saw…that was it."

"Ok."

"Would it matter?" Rory bit her lip, still looking at him. "I mean…it shouldn't make any difference if I'm with him or not, should it? We were friends even when I was with him."

"It doesn't. I was…pissed off by other things as well and I kind of…" He stammered, trying to find a good excuse as he took another small step towards her.

"Any of the other things important?"

"No." Jess shook his head, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"I should probably…" She whispered, her eyes not leaving his and he nodded.

"Lorelai's waiting." He finally stopped right in front of her and she took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"And food. Haven't had enough of that today." She leaned towards him a bit, unconsciously and he smiled again, moving his hand towards hers. Extending his fingers, he brushed them against her skin and she smiled, looking down at their hands as he kept moving closer, not thinking about what he was doing. Before he could get any closer, Luke opened the curtain, making the two teenagers jump apart.

"Rory, your food…"

"Thanks!" The girl blushed furiously, not looking at Jess who was trying to regain his balance after almost tripping on the bottom step.

"What was…?"

"Nothing!" Jess cut off his uncle, rushing up the stairs.

Sitting back down in her chair, Rory tried to catch her breath again while Lorelai looked at her, an amused expression on her face.

"Everything alright there, hon?"

"Yes." The girl nodded quickly, pulling her plate closer. "Food, finally!"

"What happened?"

"Nothing." Rory hesitated, grabbing a bite from her cheeseburger while her mother still looked at her. "I thought you were starving."

"I am." Lorelai hesitated, still looking at Rory who was shoving the food in her mouth as fast as she could. "Just on standby in case you need a Heimlich maneuver or something."

"I don't want to be late."

"And the blushing?" The woman laughed, picking up a couple of fries from her plate.

"What?"

"You look like you're auditioning to be the female version of Hellboy."

"I'll tell you later." Rory glanced at Luke who was standing behind the counter, looking at the two of them.

"Oh, did Luke walk in on something?"

"What part of later did you not understand?"

"Did he?"

"I don't know." Rory shrugged, glancing at the curtain. "He might have."

Staring at her plate, Lorelai suddenly turned around, smiling at Luke.

"Luke, we need to-go containers." She called him in a sing-song voice.

"What?"

"Food. To go. Now!"

Coming to their table with a couple of Styrofoam containers, Luke moved their food, looking at the woman.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Forgot what time the movie was actually starting. And you wouldn't want us to miss the beginning of a classic like _Plan 9 from Outer Space_, would you?" Lifting her hand to her heart, she tried to sound as dramatic as possible, making the man roll his eyes.

"Isn't that the really bad one?"

"No, Luke! No! It's a masterpiece of cinematography."

"I'll get you some cups for the coffee as well."

"Thank you!"

A few minutes later, they girl were outside, holding their bags of food in their hands. Looking at her mother, Rory smiled.

"So what's your big plan since the movie doesn't start for another 45 minutes?"

"Gazebo. We sit, we eat, we talk."

Sitting down on the bench, Lorelai looked around her, making sure no one could hear their conversation before pulling out her food again, looking at Rory. "Go. From the beginning."

Quickly recounting their earlier argument and the night's events, Rory shrugged as soon as reached the end of her story. "That's it."

"Oh…wow." Lorelai took a deep breath, trying to process the information. "I was definitely not ready for this." She laughed humorlessly, looking at her daughter.

"Not ready for what? Nothing happened."

"No. But…something almost did and you…and him…and…ugh."

"Mom…"

"Sorry." Nodding once, Lorelai regained her composure, smiling as honestly as she could. "I wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"So last week? You were just pretending to be supporting of this?"

"Kid, I want you to be happy. But you need to give me some time to process new information before I can be happy with you."

"Because you don't like him?"

"Because it would be exactly the same with any other guy. I'm just slightly more worried when it comes to him."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"No, I don't." Rory shook her head, picking another fry from her container. "What do you think is going to happen that's got you so worried?"

"Rory…"

"Mom, I'm still me, not some sort of idiot bimbo that's just going to jump…" Not being able to finish her sentence, she blushed, looking down.

"Yes, but he's Jess and I've known guys like him. And, while that is a concern, my main one is you getting hurt."

"I'm not going to."

"And again I point out that I have known a lot of Jesses. He's dark and dangerous and all rebel without a cause. I get it. I wish I didn't, but I do." Lorelai smiled, rubbing her daughter's arm. "I know you're going to be ok but I am still going to worry. I have to, I'm your mother."

"You don't have to." Rory smiled softly to herself, thinking of all the things that she didn't want to say out loud, about how he was more than Stars Hollow's answer to James Dean to her. How he was the guy that sent her care packages and read more than she did and killed snowmen for her. "Trust me, I'll be fine."

"And you'll still tell me things? You won't hide stuff from me just because you think I don't want to know or you're too scared to tell me?"

"I promise." Rory nodded, smiling.

"It's not like you can lie anyway." Lorelai teased her daughter, relaxing again. "There isn't any way you could hold off on being a teenager for…about 40 more years, let's say? That should give me time to prepare."

"Eat your dinner or we'll be late." Rolling her eyes, Rory went back to her food.


	8. Cake

**A/N: This is a bit of a two-parter, but nothing too cliffhanger-y. I'm sort of re-writing 'Lorelai's graduation Day' to fit my timeline and to make things right. I'll try to upload the second part as soon as I can. Thank you for the reviews, you guys rock. **

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**Cake**

A few days later, Lorelai opened the door to her house, a sense of newfound freedom making her face mimic the Cheshire Cat's expression. Walking into the kitchen, she saw a cake lying on the table, the words _'happy last exam ever is done!' _inscribed on it in pink icing and Rory standing next to it, an equally abnormally large smile on her face as well. After giving her mother a hug, Rory handed her a glass.

"You're done!"

"I'm done!"

The two exclaimed at the same time and they both started laughing, collapsing on two chairs.

"Oh, my God, I hate exams!"

"Well, good thing you never have to sit through another one ever again." Rory smiled sympathetically, picking up the knife on the table. "I made you cake to celebrate this momentous occasion, would you like some?"

"You made me cake?" Lorelai asked, accentuating the first word, disbelief in her tone. "And yes, please."

"Well, I asked Fran to make it. It's almost the same thing." Laughing, Rory handed her mother a plate with a slice of cake.

"And as close as a true Gilmore will ever get to baking!" Taking a bite from the cake, Lorelai smiled peacefully. "You should make cake more often."

"Then it wouldn't be special!"

"No, but it would still be cake. Which reminds me, any chance you're going to start dating Jess soon?" She changed the subject completely, taking a sip from her glass.

"What?"

"I mean soon as in in the next few days."

"Have you gone mad?" Rory tilted her head to the side, grabbing the glass and smelling it. "I didn't think I made this strong enough to get you drunk already."

"I have six tickets for graduation. And I wasn't going to go, but then Sookie found out and she wants to see me walk around with an ugly gown on and she corrupted you, demon child, to badger me into submission. Of course, you also had to tell grump and grumpier and they're coming. I have not forgiven you for that one yet, just for the record. But that leaves me with one last ticket."

"Two."

"What?"

"Sookie, grandma, grandpa and me. That's four."

"Jackson."

"Oh, yeah." Rory smiled, shaking her head. "So why do you need me to date Jess?" She asked, blushing slightly, remembering his hand touching hers in the diner.

"Because I am not going to be the really pathetic one that couldn't even fill all her seats."

"Mom, no one will care."

"Yes, they will!"

"Ok, silly me, but wouldn't you want to have people you actually like at your graduation?"

"Not necessarily, as long as I'm saved from my lameness." Lorelai sighed, finishing her slice of cake.

"Well, since I don't think that will happen in time for your graduation which is in 3 days, and, even if it did, I wouldn't want him in the same room as grandma and grandpa anyway, you need to find someone else."

"There is no one else! Your dad can't come and Michel needs to be at the inn. How about Lane?"

"She has bible study that afternoon. Luke." Rory smiled, looking at her mother. "He's been just as much a part of this as everyone else. Actually, considering how much of his coffee you consumed in the last few weeks alone, I think he may be entitled to half that diploma."

"Luke doesn't go to these things."

"Really? You've asked him to a lot of graduation ceremonies and he's said no?"

"No, but he's…Luke."

"Oh, please, even you know he'll do it if you ask him. And you guys are friends. Why shouldn't he be there?"

"Because…" Lorelai shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Exactly. Ask him tomorrow when we're there for coffee. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to come."

"Fine, I'll ask. Once. And if he says no, you're not bringing this up again."

"Fair enough. Now do you want to go watch any of my specially selected for this occasion movies?" Rory stood up, pointing to the kitchen and Lorelai nodded, grabbing her glass in one hand and resting her other arm on Rory's shoulders.

"Also, honey, and you know mommy loves you, but you make a horrible Margarita."

"At least I tried."

* * *

The next afternoon, the girls were sitting at a table in the diner, having lunch. Seeing Luke stand at the counter, not doing anything, Rory pointed at him.

"Go ask him."

"What if he says no?"

"Then we'll find someone else."

"There is no one else."

"All the more reason to go there and ask him nicely. You guys are friends, he has no reason to say no."

"Fine." Standing up, Lorelai put on her best smile before walking to the man standing at the counter. As soon as she was there, Jess appeared from behind the curtain, crashing in the seat next to Rory's.

"What's going on?"

"Shh!" She silenced the young man, straining herself to hear the conversation going on at the counter. "Mom's asking Luke!"

"Out?"

"No!" She answered mindlessly, before processing what he'd implied. "Ew! Why would you ever ask that?"

"Really? You don't see it?"

"See…what?"

"Oh, come on." He smirked, cocking one eyebrow and Rory grimaced, shaking her head.

"No. There's nothing to see. They're friends."

"Whatever, Red Riding Hood."

"Great reference, genius." She giggled, looking at him. "And there really isn't anything there. She's asking him to her graduation. And before you come with some other insane conclusion, it was my idea."

"Ok, they don't want to sleep together then." He smirked, watching her as her cheeks turned a bright red and she slapped his arm.

"You're disgusting."

"I'm pointing out the obvious." He chuckled. "So what's she graduating from?"

"Community college. Do you really think they want to…?" She changed the subject back, eyeing her mother and Luke worriedly.

"Yes. Ask anyone around here who's the slightest bit less innocent than you are and they'll tell you the same thing."

"Wow, you're really in a charming mood today, aren't you?"

"Low blood sugar or something." Jess chuckled, looking at her. "I'll have a cookie and we'll see how it goes."

"You go do that. And bring me some pie while you're at it."

"You haven't eaten your lunch yet." He pointed to her half-eaten burger, leaning closer to her to see better. "Not even finished your coffee. Now, now, Miss Gilmore, you're destroying your own reputation here."

"Well, I was distracted."

"By badly eavesdropping on a conversation you're going to find out the end result of as soon as your mother's done batting her eyelashes at Luke anyway?"

"Shut up and go get me pie." She grumbled, trying to glare at him and Jess smirked, standing up.

"Yes, master." He replied in an Igor-like fashion, making her laugh.

Sitting back down at her table, Lorelai grimaced when she drank from her now cold coffee. "Ugh."

"How'd it go?"

"Took some convincing but he said yes."

"Told you." Rory smiled victoriously just as Jess dropped her pie on the table.

"Anything else?"

"Good hoodlum, now go bring me pie as well. And refresh our coffees while you're at it, will you?" Lorelai smiled as nicely as she could at the young man. "So, what did I miss over here?"

"Nothing. Jess and I were talking." She bit her lip, thinking of their conversation while looking at Luke.

"About you guys finally doing som…"

"Mom!" Rory stopped her mother midsentence, looking around her, hoping no one was listening. "No. We just…talked. Nothing in particular."

"Oh, ok. But are you guys ever going to start…"

"Mom!" She warned again, rolling her eyes as Jess walked up to their table, filling the cups.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Bringers of pie never interrupt." She grinned as he dropped the plate in front of her.

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference." He raised his eyebrows before turning around to head back to work. Changing his mind, he turned around, looking at the older woman as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Congrats on graduating, by the way." As soon as he finished his sentence, he almost ran to the counter, making Rory fight very hard to stifle her laughter while Lorelai looked after him, a surprised expression on her face.

* * *

Three days later, Rory rushed into the diner, trying to catch her breath.

"Coffee. Muffin. To go. Now!"

"What's the rush, Speedy Gonzales?" Jess smirked as he started pouring her coffee.

"Must. Catch. Bus." She panted again, looking at him.

"Why so early?"

"I have to research shops before school."

"What shops?"

"Mom's ceremony is this afternoon and I wanted to get her a present but everything I've found so far is just plain lame so I was going to see if there are any shops in Hartford where I could get her something. I would have done it at home, but our internet's ridiculously slow."

"What about the shoes that would go just so great with her red dress?" He asked sarcastically, smirking as he remembered her attempts at ignoring him a few days before.

"Hey, you're either going to help or shut up."

"Your mom likes music, right?"

"Yes." Rory confirmed, waiting for him to continue.

"There's this shop in Hartford that sells records and random memorabilia. It's nothing fancy and not even close to this really awesome place I used to go to in New York, but it has decent stuff."

"That sounds…surprisingly great, actually. Address?" She smiled at him, accepting the cup of coffee he was handing her.

"I was heading over there this afternoon, I'll take you."

"What are you doing in Hartford?"

"Believe it or not, I don't enjoy spending all my free time in Stars Hollow."

"Fine, whatever, where are we meeting?"

"I'll pick you up from school."

"How very boy scout of you."

"I don't trust your sense of direction enough for you to be able to find any place by yourself." He tried to cover for himself, smirking.

"Pen and paper then." Rory glared at him, amused at the same time.

"What for?"

"Chilton's address."

"I'll find it. Let me guess, big building, gargoyles? Right on the corner of 'shoot me' and 'now'?"

"That's the one." Rory grinned. "I'm done with classes at 3."

"I'll see you then."

"Please be on time, I only have an hour."

Handing her the muffin, he smirked again, looking at the door. "Your bus is here."

"Shoot!" She ran out the door again, holding the cup of coffee tightly.


	9. Bananarama!

**A/N: So...ahem, I kind of failed at this quick update thing. And since my laptop's power cord went all sorts of wrong and I've just ordered a replacement, not sure when the next chapter will be. Of this or Changes. I'll try to have one as soon as I can though, even if it means using antiquated methods like pen and paper! Hope you like this chapter and thank you for the reviews.

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**Bananarama!**

Later that afternoon, Rory, Madeleine and Paris walked out of the school building, chatting. Catching up to them, Louise grinned, tilting her heads towards the main gate.

"Hot guy waiting outside."

"How hot?" Madeleine looked at her friend, licking her lips.

"10. Leather jacket too."

"Dibs!" The black-haired girl called while Rory and Paris rolled their eyes.

"Nuh-uh. Saw him first, he's mine."

"You always get the ones in the leather jackets." Madeleine pouted as they reached the gate. Finally connecting the dots when she saw Jess waiting for her, leaning against the wall, a cigarette in his mouth, Rory bit her lip, knowing that she was about to start the gossip mill of Chilton.

"So…finally ditched Farmer John for Dean Moriarty?" Paris looked from Jess to Rory.

"What? You know him?" Louise jumped in, getting closer to the girl. "Is he your boyfriend? What happened to the tall one?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Rory blushed, thankful that Jess was still too far to hear the conversation.

"Why not? What's he doing here?"

"And more importantly, can we meet him?" Madeleine smiled at Jess and he rolled his eyes, looking at Rory, making her snicker.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go." She excused herself, hurrying towards him, leaving Madeleine and Louise talking and looking at them while Paris was trying to get their attention again.

"Walk away as quickly as you can." She smiled at Jess as soon as she was near him and he started walking by her side, trying to get as far away from the school as possible. "Sorry about that." Rory took a deep breath when they were a block away. "Madeleine and Louise were debating which one gets to have you."

"Aw, you should have introduced us." He teased, watching her expression change.

"We can go back, I'm sure they're still interested." Rory shot back, feeling her stomach drop.

"Some other time maybe, you said you were in a hurry."

"I think they'll be more than willing to send you their phone numbers."

"Oh, ok, you'll make sure I get them?" He smirked again before seeing her bite her lip, a mixture of annoyance and hurt on her face. "Your school looks even worse than I thought it would."

"They try to scare us into behaving." She smiled wearily, looking at him. "Is it far? We can take a bus."

"Not that far. Why are you in a hurry if the ceremony doesn't start till 6?"

"I have to go by the grandparents' house and change. I was supposed to go straight after school but I told them I had a paper thing. And how do you know what time it starts?"

"Luke's been driving me crazy all day. Better part of yesterday too, actually."

"Seriously?"

"He was ironing his suit jacket this morning." Jess rolled his eyes. "I believe that entitles me to an 'I told you so'."

"Jess, just because he wants to look nice it doesn't mean he…" She shook her head, grimacing.

"What's your problem with them dating though? I mean…they're grownups, it's their business what or who they do."

"Must you put it like that?" She made a face, shaking her head quickly, trying to get the thought out of her head. "And it's just…it would make everything weird."

"Everything what?"

"The diner, mostly."

"That's not everything." He pointed out, looking at her.

"No, but it would be uncomfortable and…I don't know. I just don't think they should date. I would like to not have anything risking messing up the diner for me."

Jess nodded, his smirk fading slightly before pointing to a store door. "We're here."

"Jess, I could have followed directions to this place."

"Told you, I was coming over anyway." He opened the door, waiting for her to get inside before following, nodding courteously at the guy behind the counter before losing themselves in the back shelves. A few minutes later, Rory walked up to him, smiling when she saw him leafing through the stacks of records.

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"Bringing me here."

"Don't mention it." Jess smiled back. "Did you find anything?"

"I have a few options, but I'll look around some more. This place is absolutely amazing."

"Told you, there's an even better one in New York, but somehow I think Lorelai would frown upon me taking you over state lines."

"Too bad, I'd like to see it."

"Ask me again once you're 18, it might make it easier to get you there without risking having the cops sent after me."

"I'll hold you to that." She nodded, flashing him another smile before heading for another stack of records.

Half an hour later, she jumped next to him, holding a t-shirt tightly in her hands, a giant smile on her face.

"Found it! It's perfect!"

"A...Bananarama t-shirt?"

"No, it's..." Taking a deep breath, she looked at him, trying to find the right way to explain it. "Mom used to have this exact model t-shirt when she was my age. But after she moved out of my grandparents' house and into the shed, when we didn't have any money, she used it to make me a dress. It was the first thing she ever made and it's still somewhere in my baby box. So this and the Bananarama record I found earlier? Perfect present!" She grinned, exhaling loudly as she reached the end of her monologue.

"Get it then."

"I will. She'll love it." Rory nodded again before looking down at his hands. "You haven't found anything?"

"Not yet. Worst case, I have to stop by a bookshop to ease the pain." He smirked, looking at her.

"Aw, you poor thing. That sounds dreadful." She teased, still hugging the shirt.

"I don't know how I'll deal."

"You'll find a way. I'll go pay for this and the record and then browse some more."

"I'll be here." Jess nodded, watching her as she headed towards the counter, holding her findings in her hands. After she was done paying, she walked back up to him, still beaming happily.

"Can I help you find anything?"

"I don't think I'm looking for anything in particular, but thanks for the offer." He smirked, shaking his head.

"Go on, there's got to be something I can do to thank you for bringing me here."

"How about we leave it as you owing me?" He cocked an eyebrow and she bit her lip hesitantly. "For this and for making Lorelai ask Luke to her graduation, therefore unleashing the annoyance that is nervous Luke upon me."

"I know a really nice bookshop around here, would that be sufficient reward?" Rory smiled at him, stepping a bit closer.

"The one on Bishop?"

"Damn." She laughed, nodding. "Let me know if I can ever do anything for you."

"Dangerous." Jess tried to not start laughing, making her blushing furiously.

"I mean...to repay...uh...for..."

"Uh-huh." He nodded, finally chuckling softly. "Shouldn't you head to your grandparents' house?"

Looking at her watch, Rory nodded. "Probably."

"Go on, I'll walk you there."

"You don't have to."

"Might as well, I don't think I'll find anything today." He zipped his jacket again, looking at the door. "Ready?"

"Sure."

A few seconds later, they were outside, with Rory leading them towards her grandparents' house.

"So...you said something earlier about a shed?" Jess remembered.

"What?"

"When you were rambling about the t-shirt."

"Oh, yeah. The potting shed behind the Independence. We lived there until I was about 11."

"I'm sorry." He shrugged, looking at her.

"Don't be. It was tiny, but mom was there and we had everything we needed." She smiled back at him, biting her lip. "It wasn't as bad as it sounds."

"Why did Lorelai leave? I've heard her complain about her parents, but she has a…penchant for the dramatic, shall we say, so I'm curious how much of it is true." Jess smirked.

"Her and grandma don't get along. Honestly, I think they're both just too stubborn. It's complicated." Pausing for a second, she took a deep breath. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I know Luke's parents are dead, but what about your other set of grandparents?"

"Don't know them." He admitted, picking up a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. "I don't even know if they know I exist."

"You're not curious to meet them?"

"Nope."

"What about your dad? I've never heard you mention him." She decided to push her luck and he took a drag out of his cigarette, kicking a pebble out of his way with his left foot.

"Don't know him either. He took off as soon as I was born."

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Liz used to tell me stuff about him when I was a kid. Mostly bad, don't get a too rosy picture in your head here." Deciding to change the subject, Jess looked around at the houses they were walking past. "Fancy neighbourhood."

"Yeah, it is. So, your…"

"I have your copy of _Clockwork Orange_, by the way. You left it in the diner." He didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence, trying to make her realize she should drop the subject. Nodding, she smiled.

"I had fun today."

"They allow fun at your fancy school?"

"I was thinking of after school." She admitted, biting her lip as she stopped in front of her grandparents' driveway.

"Yeah, it wasn't all that bad. Nice place." He rolled his eyes, looking at the house in front of him.

"You'd like grandpa's book collection. He has a lot of first editions. A couple of Hemingways as well."

"Good taste." He smirked and she stepped closer to him, not thinking about what she was doing. "Have fun tonight." Jess added.

"I will. Sorry for the Luke thing."

"I'll live." He nodded, stepping towards her as well, keeping an eye on the house to make sure no one was watching them. Leaning closer to her, his smirk turned into a smile as he threw his cigarette to the ground. Instead of moving any closer, he changed his mind, pulling back again. "You should go inside before you're late."

"Uh…" She hesitated, not knowing if she had just imagined that something was about to happen.

"I'll see you at the diner." Jess turned around, heading back down the street.

"Jess!"

"Huh?" He turned around, looking at her.

"Thanks again."

"You're welcome." He nodded, waving once before he started walking back. Rory shook her head, walking to the front door and ringing the doorbell.


	10. Fool

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews.**

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**Fool**

Rory sat through the ceremony, with her grandmother talking in one ear about just how loud everyone was and how she hoped her photographer could get a good shot, while Sookie was talking about how beautiful her mother looked and how proud she must be of her. Nodding from time to time, not knowing exactly which one of the two she was directing it at, she watched her mother walk across the stage, sticking out her tongue and waving her hand hidden inside a giant piece of red foam when the woman looked at her.

Inside though, she was far from calm.

Truth be told, her mind was reeling, thinking of a certain diner boy who she thought was going to kiss her, who she wanted to kiss her and then had just…left. Shaking her head rapidly as the last couple of people walked across the stage, she tried to push her thoughts away and allow herself to be happy for her mother instead of over-thinking things.

"Yay!" Rory grinned as soon as Lorelai walked up to them, hugging her tightly. "There's my little graduate!"

"I'm going to get back at you for the foam finger, just so you know!" Lorelai grinned as well. "You just wait."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rory smiled innocently as soon as her mother let go of her. Tapping her foot impatiently, she waited for Lorelai to hug Sookie and Jackson, before exchanging a few words with her parents. Glancing at Luke, she saw him smiling proudly, like everyone else.

"Thank you so much for being here." Lorelai blushed slightly as the man congratulated her, before going back to her usual bubbly self. "I don't even know how you left the diner alone for so long, you must be suffering from withdrawals. You calling its babysitter every 10 minutes?"

"Caesar can take care of it."

"What about Jess, you sure he's not setting anything on fire?"

Hearing his name, Rory frowned slightly, biting her lip.

"Something wrong, pumpkin?" Sookie smiled at her but she shook her head.

"Long day at school. They try to get us all smart in one go."

"How dare they?" Lorelai jumped in their conversation, grinning again. "So…is that a present for me?" She poked the bag in her daughter's hand, curious and Rory nodded.

"Yes, it is. Happy graduation day, mom." She handed her the bag, watching as she rummaged through it, pulling out the t-shirt and record.

"Aw, kid, this is…" Lorelai bit her lip, trying not to get too emotional. "This is great. Thank you."

"You like it?"

"I love it." She nodded, hugging Rory again.

"Lorelai, the photographer wants to take a few pictures."

"Give me a minute." Giving Rory the bag and mortarboard to hold, Lorelai slipped out of her graduation gown and put the t-shirt on over her dress, while Emily shook her head disapprovingly, watching her. As soon as the gown was back on, Emily smiled coldly.

"Ready now or do you have something more to do?"

"I'm ready, mother." Lorelai chuckled, rolling her eyes dramatically when her mother's back was turned to her.

A few minutes later, after she'd taken pictures with everyone but Luke, Lorelai walked up to him, a determined look on her face.

"I know you want to say no but before you do, please remember that it's my graduation and if you take a picture with me, I promise I will leave the salad on my burger tomorrow, ok that's a lie but we can pretend for a second it's not, and I won't frame the picture or make you hang it in the diner or anything, in fact, you don't ever have to see it again if you don't want to so…what do you say?" She smiled and the man took a deep breath, smiling as well.

"I wasn't going to say no."

"Damn, my mind reading abilities need more work. Raul?" She looked at the photographer and the man nodded, walking closer to them. Wrapping his arm around Lorelai's waist lightly, Luke smiled and she looked at him, pleasantly surprised by his small gesture before focusing her attention on the camera.

"Ok, who wants to go for dinner?" Sookie clapped her hands excitedly.

* * *

A while later, the girls were driving back to Stars Hollow, music playing softly in the background.

"Ok, what's wrong?" Lorelai turned the radio off, glancing at her daughter. "You've been distracted all night."

"Nothing." Rory replied unconvincingly.

"Uh-huh. And I'm getting ready for my first world tour with my girl band."

"You could. Just make sure you get Lane on drums or she'll never forgive you."

"She's still…hey, don't change the subject!" Lorelai shook her head.

"Mom, nothing's wrong."

"Jess?"

"That obvious?" Rory laughed, biting her lip.

"Only to anyone that has met you at least once or twice before."

"I just…thought he might kiss me this afternoon and then he didn't and I want to know why."

"Again? No one walked in on you this time?"

"No." She shrugged, making a face. "He just left and nothing happened and I'm getting really tired of this."

"You could…"

"I don't want to talk about it." Rory shook her head.

"Rory, we agreed that you were going to tell me things about Jess."

"If there's ever anything to tell, I will. But now there isn't anything more than that." She turned the music back on. Exhaling loudly, Lorelai twisted the knob again, looking at her daughter.

"Rory, you can…"

"No. I don't want to talk or think about him anymore. If he doesn't want to be with me, fine! I give up." She bit her lip, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry if I was distracted, I promise you'll have my undivided attention from now on." Rory smiled before turning the music back on, making Lorelai shake her head as she continued driving.

* * *

Many hours later, after a lot of twisting and turning, trying in vain to get any sleep, Rory got out of bed, putting her shoes on and throwing a coat on top of her sweats, not bothering to change. Picking up her book, she snuck out of the house and walked to the bridge, thankful to find it empty. Sitting down, she opened her book and she started reading.

Almost half an hour later, she heard footsteps and shook her head, knowing full well that the person that was walking to her was the one she wanted to see least. Sitting down next to her, Jess dangled his feet over the edge, looking at her.

"How was the ceremony?"

"Fine." She shot back, not looking up from her book.

"Anything exciting happen?"

"I'm trying to read." She grumbled again. Confused by her attitude, Jess ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of anything he could have done to annoy hey. When he couldn't come up with anything, he took his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, getting ready to light one but Rory put her book down, glaring at him.

"Do you have to do that?"

"What, smoke?"

"I don't care that you don't give a damn about getting cancer, but I'd prefer if my lungs didn't have to suffer because of you."

"What's your damage, Heather?"

"Nothing." She huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. "I just don't get why I can't seem to be able to have this place to myself for one night, without you getting in the way."

"Hey, here's an idea for you: next time you want something, how about you say it instead of getting all passive-aggressive?" Jess snapped back, putting his hands on the bridge and getting ready to push himself up but she stopped him.

"You can stay, I'm leaving!" Rory grumbled, shoving her book in her pocket and standing up. After hesitating for a second, Jess got up and caught up to her, standing in front of her, making her marching come to a stop.

"What did I do to piss you off this much?" He tried to calm her down, unsure of the best course of action but not wanting to be in a fight with her at the same time.

"Nothing." Rory admitted, biting her lip, slightly less angry.

"So why are you mad at me?"

"Because you did nothing! Did it ever occur to you that I wanted you to kiss me today instead of just leaving?"

"What?" Jess mumbled, caught off-guard by her question, taking a deep breath.

"I mean I may be wrong here but I really thought you liked me! You keep bringing me care packages and you got annoyed when you thought I was together with Dean and then, when we were in the diner, there was a moment, wasn't there? I mean, if Luke's hadn't interrupted, I honestly figured we were going to…" Rory blushed, biting her lip. "And you're always nice to me and you act like you like me and you were looking at me at the town meeting!"

"What?" He asked again, not understanding what town meeting she was talking about.

"After Louie died! You were sitting there next to Luke and looking at me and doing that smirking thing you do and I don't know if I'm an idiot, but mom and Lane seem to think you like me as well and you had the perfect opportunity today but instead of doing something, you just left! So I am taking the hint and going home. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get Madeleine and Louise's phone numbers, maybe they're more your type!" She rambled, not even stopping to breathe while Jess watched her, an amused smirk on his lips.

"So…I shouldn't have tried to cheer you up after you broke up with Lurch?"

"I…uh…"

"I mean you seem to think I'm not capable of doing something nice for no reason other than because I like you. I thought it would be ok to try to cheer up a friend who hadn't gotten out of bed for days."

"It is…" She mumbled, starting to blush as her speech started to play again in her head.

"I apparently can't even look at you at a town meeting without you thinking I want to get into your pants."

"Jess, that's not…" She bit her lip, even more blood rushing to her cheeks as he tried very hard not to laugh.

"And how is it that today you were very much against even the thought of your mother and Luke dating because it could potentially ruin the diner for you, but such thoughts don't seem to concern you when it comes to the two of us?"

"Ok, you've made your point!"

"No, seriously, I'm curious."

"I'm going home."Rolling her eyes, she tried to walk around him but he stepped in the same direction so he was still standing in front of her.

"As soon as you've explained the last one to me, you can go."

"What is there to explain? I'm an idiot who reads too much into things. Now I'm pretty sure I've made enough of a fool of myself and I really do not want to be here anymore, so can you please get out of the way and let me leave?"

"Sure." He shrugged, taking a step to the left and watching as she tried to rush past him. "Hey, Rory?" He smirked before she had a chance to take more than a couple of steps and she turned around, fighting very hard to cling to her dignity and not start crying.

"Yeah?" She whispered, not trusting her voice to not be trembling.

"One more thing." He chuckled before closing the distance between them, cupping her face in his hands and crushed his mouth to hers, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist, molding her body as close to his as she could.


	11. Deep Breaths and Go!

**A/N: *sigh* I know I'm ridiculously late and this chapter is rather lame but seriously...it hates me. I swear it does. Or I hate it. Or both. And I can't look at it any more of fear of my brain exploding. And I'm sure I've explained before why my brain going 'splodey would be a bad thing. Thank you for the reviews. **

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**Deep Breaths and Go!**

Standing on the sidewalk, a few steps away from the windows of the diner, Rory tried to desperately regain her calm. She'd had things planned. She'd woken up early, thankful to see Lorelai already gone, because that was one conversations he definitely did not want to have with her mother before caffeine, put on her uniform, done her hair, even put on a hint of lip gloss, just enough to look great but not like she was trying too hard. She was going to waltz in, order some coffee to go, smile and be at ease and maybe even enjoy the butterflies in her stomach.

And now she was pacing like a maniac, making even Kirk look at her oddly as he passed her on his way to the diner. Glancing at her watch, she realized she was running out of time, so, after taking a couple of more deep breaths, she marched to the front door, trying to stop her hand from shaking as she twisted the doorknob. Walking to the counter, she glanced around, hearing her heart beat a million times a minute when Jess walked up to her, giving her a small nod.

"Hey." He half smiled when he was in front of her, tilting his head in the direction of the coffee machine, trying to keep his cool. "To stay or to go?"

"To go. I…uh…school." She mumbled, looking down, hoping to hide her blushing.

"Ok." He nodded before pouring the coffee and pushing the cup in front of her. "Anything else?"

"Coffee's enough, thanks." Inhaling deeply, she finally looked up at him after checking that no one was nearby, her teeth biting her lip. "Should we talk?"

"About?"

"Last night." Before Jess had a chance to reply, Kirk walked up to the counter, clearing his throat.

"I'm busy, go away." Jess grumbled, not taking his eyes off Rory.

"As a paying customer, I demand your attention."

"Go away." He punctuated both words but the man shook his head, pushing a plate with pancakes at him.

"I will stand here until you explain to me what this is!"

Rolling his eyes, he smirked, making Rory laugh before looking at the man. "What do you want?" Pulling out his order pad, he scribbled _"What about last night?"_ on a page before ripping it off and pushing it towards Rory, as Kirk went off on some rant about his improperly cut pancakes.

Realizing how much easier getting what she wanted to say out was in writing, she smiled happily, scribbling _"Don't you think there's something to talk about?"_ before pushing the piece of paper towards him as discreetly as possible.

"_Not really."_ He replied, smirking as he watched her reaction while trying to answer Kirk's question.

"_Oh…ok." _Standing up, Rory picked up her coffee and fixed her backpack, pointing at the door. "I should go or I'm going to miss my bus."

Seeing the slightly deflated look on her face as she started walking towards the door, Jess shook his head, kicking himself mentally before stepping into the kitchen, leaving Kirk mid-sentence.

"Luke, I'm off to school!"

"School doesn't start for another…" The man grumbled, walking outside only to see Jess already out the door. Catching up to Rory, he smirked, trying to catch his breath.

"You going to do this storming out thing often? Because I'll need some running shoes if you do."

"Bus." She took a sip from her coffee, not looking at him.

"Ok, what we have here is failure to communicate." Jess looked at her, catching her half smile at his movie reference.

"No, we don't. I get it, you don't want to talk."

"No, I said I don't think there is anything to discuss. Jeez, are we going to do this every time?" Standing in front of her, stopping her marching, he smiled as his fingers brushed against her hand.

"But you…"

"I just don't see what the hell we're supposed to say." He leaned closer, trying to kiss her but Rory pulled back, smiling at the same time.

"Not here. I haven't told mom yet and I'd prefer it if she heard it from me instead of the town gossip mill." She glanced around her, carefully and Jess nodded.

"Bridge after you're done with school?" He stepped back, continuing to walk her to the bus station.

"Can't. I promised Lane I'll go by her house. I can meet you at 4." Rory shook her head, blushing slightly. Spotting the bus approaching the station, Jess smiled, nodding.

"I'll see you at 4." He backed away from Rory, still watching her, making even more blood rush to her cheeks.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Rory bounced into the antique shop, finding her best friend dusting a table. Standing in front of her, she grinned, her arms crossed across her chest.

"I have news."

"Good news?"

"Really good." Rory confirmed and the Korean girl quickly finished wiping the table before walking to the other room where her mother was watching a customer browse.

"Mama, Rory and I are going to go upstairs and study."

"Tea is in an hour. Don't be late."

As soon as the girls were upstairs, Lane closed the door behind them, while Rory walked to the closet, waiting for her friend to get in as well before closing the door and shoving a few pillows in front of it to muffle sounds.

"I kissed Jess!" Rory blurted out as soon as everything was done, making Lane stare at her in shock. "Last night. Well, technically, he kissed me, but I don't it matters much who kissed who and I'm seeing him at 4 and it's so good to finally tell someone because I thought I was going to burst all day at school!" Half a minute later, when her friend still hadn't said anything, Rory tilted her head to the side. "Lane?"

"You're…serious?"

"Yes." She confirmed, laughing.

"Oh, my God, you're dating Jess!" Lane finally screeched happily, before covering her mouth with her hands, hoping her mother hadn't heard anything. "Tell me everything!"

Rory nodded, smiling as quickly recounting their fight and the kiss.

"And then?"

"And then he walked me home, since it was ridiculously late."

"And?"

"And there was more kissing along the way. That's about it."

"Ok, you cannot say that's about it when it comes to the biggest piece of gossip Stars Hollow has had in ages!"

"Lane, it's not…" Changing her mind, she smiled. "It's exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah! So…how is he? Because he looks like he's a really good kisser, but you can never be sure until there's first hand evidence and now there is! And I have access to it!"

Blushing hard, Rory bit her lip before nodding. "He is."

"Miss Patty will be very happy to hear that, I'm sure. How's Lorelai taking it?"

"Haven't told her yet." Rory bit her lip, shrugging. "I haven't seen her today. I'm not looking forward to admitting the sneaking out thing."

"I suggest you sanitize the story. Just…tell her it happened today. What's 12 more hours?"

"I don't like lying to her."

"Do you like fighting with her? Because she's not a fan of Jess and you sneaking out in the middle of the night to be with him will not win him or your relationship any points."

"But…"

"Try telling her. If she takes the news of you two kissing calmly, then give her the details. If not…"

"If not, I'll spare her the details until we can joke about it."

"With luck, it should happen by the time you're 50."

"I'm just going to tell her tonight on the way to my grandparents' house. How bad can it be?"

"You really want to be stuck in a car with her, without the possibility to escape without causing yourself a lot of damage while having that conversation? Not to mention, there is no way she'll be in a good enough mood."

"You have a point." Rory conceded, making a face. "After dinner?"

"Probably your best bet, unless it goes horribly bad." Glancing at the watch on her friend's wrist, Lane grinned. "Shouldn't you go meet Jess?" She took Rory's hand in hers, lifting it to show her the time.

"Oh, shoot!" Standing up, she kicked the pillows away before opening the door. Instead of leaving, she looked back at her friend, smiling. "You're ok with this? Are we over your whole disliking Jess thing?"

"Hey, as long as he's nice to you, the grudge is dead and buried as far as I'm concerned."

"Thank you, Lane."

"Call me and tell me how everything went tomorrow!"

"I will." Rory nodded before heading out the door.

* * *

Approaching the bridge carefully, she spotted Jess already sitting down, a book in his hand. Running her fingers through the tips of her hair quickly, she inhaled sharply before sitting down next to him.

"Hey." She almost whispered as he put his book down. Noticing her nervousness, he smirked.

"How was school?"

"Same old. Madeleine and Louise spent lunch break interrogating me about you." She smiled, making him chuckle.

"What did you tell them?"

"I stuck my headphones in my ears. I was however made to swear I would give you this…" She handed him a couple of pieces of paper, her smile growing even bigger when he crumpled them without even looking and threw them in the water.

"I'm sure they're very nice…" Jess trailed off before leaning closer, cupping her face in one hand. "Hi." He smiled again before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Hello." She mumbled again before kissing him back, grinning. "How was your day?"

"Same old." Jess mimicked her answer, not moving away from her. "Is there a reason why we haven't been doing this sooner?" He leaned in for another kiss, this time more passionate.

"Because you're stubborn and stupid."

"You could have said something as well." He smirked, moving to be closer to her as pressed another kiss to her mouth.

"I almost did." Rory admitted, laughing.

"Really?"

"Just…forget I said anything." She started backpedaling, flustered. "It doesn't matter."

Pulling back away from her, Jess cocked an eyebrow, smirking. "Oh, no, I want to hear this one."

"Please drop it." She widened her eyes, trying to look innocent before kissing him again.

"Bribery is extremely effective." He chuckled as he tangled his hands in her hair.

A while later, Rory finally detached herself from him, trying to catch her breath as she looked at her watch. "I should head home. I have to get ready for Friday night dinner."

"Damn." Jess chuckled, placing another small kiss on her lips before jumping up, extending his hand to help her up as well. Starting to walk towards her house, he pulled a bit further away from her as they walked away from the cover of the trees.

"I'm telling mom tonight, so hiding this won't be necessary." She motioned between the two of them and he smirked again.

"Unless she kills me."

"She won't…I think." Rory answered playfully.

"I'll leave an envelope with my lawyer, just in case I mysteriously disappear."

"It's probably safest." Pausing for a second, she smiled, looking at him. "I had fun today. And last night."

"Let me know after you've told Lorelai, I'll see if I can offer a decent follow-up."

"I will."

"I should head back to the diner before Luke's head explodes." Jess smirked, tilting his head back towards the town.

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing."

"Jess!"

"He's used to it by now, don't worry." He chuckled. "Bye, Rory."

"Bye." She smiled back as he turned around and headed towards the diner, brushing his hand past hers, his index finger curling briefly around hers. Taking one more deep breath, she resumed her walk towards her house, trying to prepare herself mentally for the conversation.


	12. Padawan in more than one way

**Padawan in more than one way**

Rushing into the house a few minutes later, having spotted Lorelai's car in the driveway, Rory tried to catch her breath. Heading towards her room, she almost ran into her mother, who was coming out of the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Whoa, kid, slow down. Precious liquids here." She lifted her mug and Rory shrugged, trying to keep her cool.

"Sorry."

"You're later than usual from school today. Did Paris do something?"

"No. I…uh…" She hesitated, trying to think of a good excuse. "…I…Lane. I stopped by Lane's!" She announced victoriously before pushing past Lorelai and opening the door to her room. "I should get changed, we don't want to be late!"

"Oh, no, you're not!" Lorelai grinned, shaking her head and walking to her daughter, stopping her just before she could close the door, extending her free hand to stop it from closing. "What's up?"

"Mom, we're going to be late and grandma will never stop talking about it." Rory sighed, hiding behind the closet door, pretending to look for something to wear.

"She'll live, she saw us yesterday. So?" She took a sip from her mug and Rory peaked from behind the door, rolling her eyes.

"Nothing's going on. I'm just bewildered from lack of caffeine." Stepping back, she put her hands on Lorelai's arms, hoping she had stopped blushing. "Go get dressed."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"You're blinking." Lorelai pointed out, grinning.

"I have to blink, otherwise my eyes will dry and fall out."

"This is not your normal blinking."

"You've timed my blinking before to know if it's normal or not?"

"I have a sense for these things."

"You're insane." Rory laughed, rolling her eyes again before lifting the clock from her desk and showing it to her mother. "We are going to be late. Get dressed."

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Lorelai grinned, shaking her head.

"I talked to Mrs. Kim without having had any coffee since my morning cup. That's it, I swear."

"Oh, you poor child!" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically, mock horror on her face. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" Walking to the coffee machine and pouring Rory a cup of coffee, she handed it to her, grinning. "Now, now, drink and regain your strength for you shall need it soon."

"Someone's feeling silly this afternoon." Rory remarked, sipping from her cup and smiling at the same time, thankful to have thrown her mother off-track.

"Just trying to get it all out before I have to spend time with the grumps."

"You're doing a good job at it. You should turn silliness into your fulltime job."

"Must you be mean?"

"No, it's a service I provide especially for you." Rory stuck out her tongue before putting the mug on her dresser. "Now that you've solved the inexistent mystery are you going to go upstairs and change? Because if we're late, I'm telling her it was your fault."

"Oh, fine." Lorelai sighed, pouting.

"If you're good, you can have ice cream after dinner!" Rory yelled after her mother, laughing as she watched her going up the stairs. Closing the door, she rested her back against it, taking a deep breath, letting relief wash over her before she went back to getting ready for dinner.

* * *

A while later, the girls were in the car, driving back towards Stars Hollow.

"So…dinner was…"

"Not as painful as usual." Lorelai admitted, shrugging. "I think that's the first time in recent history I walk out of that house without wanting to shove sharp things in my skull."

"Told you asking them to your graduation was going to…"

"Don't get too excited." Lorelai smiled, glancing at her daughter. "While mom and I didn't fight for one night, that doesn't mean we're friends now."

"I know. I just think it's a good first step."

"Where are we getting ice cream? Luke's?" Lorelai changed the subject, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "I mean, I was promised…" She drew out the word, grinning. "…Ice cream if I was good, and I was. So, diner? Because Taylor said he was closing the shop early tonight."

"Was it getting in the way of his evening of sitting at home, planning the best way to take over the town and make us all wear grey sweaters?"

"While evilly cackling. What's the final call on the ice cream run?"

Deciding telling her about Jess could wait for a while longer, Rory nodded. "Sure."

"You're ok with seeing Jess? Because last night you were very intent on being done with him."

Looking out the passenger's side window, hoping to hide her blushing, she nodded again. "Fine. Saw him this morning when I went for coffee, we're ok."

"Ok, ok or just…pretending to be ok while still frustrated that he won't do anything?"

Biting her lip, Rory grimaced, trying to find a good answer. Glancing at her after a few seconds of silence, Lorelai smiled. "Hon?"

"I need to tell you something." Rory exhaled loudly, looking back at her mother. "I was going to wait until we were at home and not, you know, in a moving vehicle. That you're driving. Because it may not be safe."

"Don't worry, I'm very good at this. If I didn't crash the car when I heard they were remaking_ Psycho_, which we can all agree was perfect and had no need to be remade, I think we'll live through this as well. What's up?"

"Jess and I kissed." She stated, looking at Lorelai. "It just happened and I really, really wanted to tell you earlier but I didn't know how you were going to react and I didn't want to ruin your mood even more before dinner, so please don't take this is a sign of me keeping things from you because of him because it was today and…"

"Rory, you're rambling."

"I know. But you're quiet and you're never quiet unless you're really mad." Chewing on her lip again, she started wringing her fingers, not taking her eyes off her mother. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Lorelai finally snickered, focusing her eyes back on the road. "We've been talking about this ever since you broke up with Dean-actually, he was the reason for that particular event. I'm prepared. I knew it was coming. And you can't tell me I'm quiet when you haven't given me a chance to talk."

"Being prepared doesn't mean you were going to like it. You keep changing your mind about him."

"I am not chang…sorry." Lorelai changed her mind halfway through her attempt at protesting. "I'm doing my best here. But as long as you're happy and I get to hear every single detail of this, I'm good. I won't kill him or anything."

"Promise?"

"Maybe threaten to break his knees if he hurts you, but that's it."

"Mom…" Rory groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, no mom-ing me! It's my job to scare boys away from you! If Dean survived, I don't see why he can't."

"You're not going to give him the mother with a shotgun lecture, are you?"

"Now, now, honey, of course I won't." Lorelai laughed maniacally, widening her eyes and contorting her face into an expression as insane looking as she could. "So, details?" She started speaking again in her normal voice. Regaining her composure after a fit of giggles, Rory shook her head.

"You're insane. And…it just happened. I told him I was done playing games if he wasn't going to kiss me and then he did."

"Go, Rory!" Lorelai grinned, looking at her daughter. "Is this why you were late and odd today?"

"Yeah." She confirmed, smiling.

"From the enormous grin on your face, I take it he's a good kisser?"

"God, you and Lane only think about one thing, don't you?"

"Of course we do. So?" She probed again.

"Yes, he is." Rory confirmed, blushing. "And now that you know all that, you are going to behave tonight, right?"

"Tonight? What are we doing?"

"Ice cream!" She groaned again, throwing her head back.

"Oh, yeah!" Pulling the car over in a space on the street, Lorelai laughed before getting out, waiting for Rory to join her. "Of course I will behave, honey, why would you even…"

"Because I know you!" Rory pointed her finger at her mother, narrowing her eyes.

"I'll give it my best try."

"Not good enough."

"Oh, go on, can I at least hug him and welcome him to the family? Ask him if what China pattern he prefers? See if I can scare the little hooligan for my amusement?" She chuckled as they walked up to the diner door.

"Mom!"

"I'll behave." Lorelai rolled her eyes, walking into the empty diner. Sitting down at a table, she looked around them, shrugging her shoulders when no one came after a few seconds. "Apparently not even you sucking face with Jess can guarantee that we'll actually get something to drink before we die."

Banging her head on the table, Rory sighed. "Never telling you anything ever again, you know that, right?"

"You love me, really. Go find him, I need ice cream!"

"How about you just wait until Luke comes out here?" She lifted her head again, still rolling her eyes.

"But what's the point in this if it's not going to get me anything?"

"Point in what?" Luke asked, appearing by their table. Shooting her mother a desperate look, Rory shook her head as subtly as possible.

"Point in being in the diner if there is no one around to serve us! Where were you? Where is that annoying nephew of yours? Why do I not have coffee in front of me yet?" Lorelai smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I was in the kitchen. Jess is…actually, I have no idea. He keeps disappearing today."

"Since you haven't rectified my lack of coffee yet so you might as well still be there!"

"You have a problem." The man smiled, heading towards the counter at the same time.

"Yes! I don't have coffee, that's my problem!"

Dropping a couple of mugs on the table, Luke filled them with coffee before pushing one closer to Lorelai. "Here."

"You are a god amongst men, my friend."

"Yeah, yeah. Dessert, right? Since you're coming from dinner, I assume that that's what you're here for. Unless you got served something ridiculously fancy again."

"He knows us well." Lorelai smiled at her daughter, before looking back up at the man. "Ice cream, please. And put it on top of pie."

"I have brownies, would you prefer that?"

"I reiterate my previous comment about being a god."

"Rory?"

"No thanks, I'm but a Padawan when it comes to eating."

"I'll go get your ice cream."

"You're a Padawan when it comes to hiding things from me as well." She chuckled before changing the subject. "Movie night tomorrow? Or do you have plans?" Lorelai wiggled her eyebrows, glancing at the curtain.

"I don't know. Movie sounds good."

"You know you can bring him home, right? For movie nights or to hang out or whatever…?"

"Mom, we haven't gotten that far, ok? I'll see."

"I'm just trying to make sure you're comfortable bringing him…hey, Jess!" She waved at the young man who had walked downstairs and he nodded once, heading towards the coffee machine. Turning back to look at her daughter, Lorelai noticed her cheeks were bright red again. "Seriously? You already know he likes you, why are you blushing now?"

"Because he likes me. And it's weird. I'm not used to this whole thing." Blushing even harder when she saw Jess looking at her from next to the coffee machine, she smiled back at him making Lorelai shake her head, chuckling.

"You can go hang out with him for a bit."

"You sure?" Rory looked at her, slightly incredulously.

"Yeah. Just be home by 11. And see if you can convince him to come by for a movie night."

"You really want him there?"

"I really want to give him every chance there is." She shrugged again, glancing at the young man who suddenly looked a bit more uncomfortable as he leaned on the counter, leafing through a book, trying to hide the fact that he was looking at them.

"Thank you!" Rory grinned, standing up and giving her mother a quick hug.

"Be mindful of the force!" Lorelai shot back before Rory headed towards the door, motioning with her head for Jess to follow her. Waving quickly at Lorelai, he rushed after her as Luke was making his way out of the kitchen, a plate in his hand.

"What's going on?"

Sipping from her coffee, Lorelai looked at him before sighing. "Sit down. We need to talk."


	13. Britney and Justin, Jess and Rory, Jason

A/N: Thank you for the reviews.

* * *

**Britney and Justin, Jess and Rory, Jason and Freddy**

_Sipping from her coffee, Lorelai looked at him before sighing. "Sit down. We need to talk."_

"What's up?" Luke looked at her, confused and she glanced out the window to make sure no one was heading their way.

"They're dating."

"Rory and Jess?"

"No, Britney and Justin. Though they've been going at it for a while, I didn't think it would surprise even you." She tilted her head to the side, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, Rory and Jess."

"Didn't they break up? Kirk was distraught over it a while ago."

"Luke!" Lorelai snapped, glaring at him. "Can you focus on the essential part? I mean, it's not like I said you just won a million dollars, but some reaction would be preferable to you talking about two pop stars' live lives."

"You're sure about this?"

"Rory told me. I'm going to assume that if she was going to lie to me, it would have been the other way 'round."

Chuckling, Luke nodded. "How are you taking it?"

"I am neutral until Jess screws up." She grinned, sipping from her coffee.

"Very neutral." He tried to stay calm, his smile fading.

"I'm trying to be neutral, how's that?" She gave in, laughing. "I don't want her to get hurt, that's all."

"No one does. Not even Jess."

"Ha!" Seeing Luke's expression change again, Lorelai shook her head. "Sorry."

"Fine, you won't believe me, that's your right, but at least trust Rory's judgment. She's a good kid, she knows what she's doing." The man smiled, trying to reassure her.

"She's 17, I highly doubt she's putting a lot of objective thought into this." Picking up her spoon again, she started digging through her ice cream before looking at Luke again. "Tell me she's going to be fine."

"She is." Luke nodded and Lorelai smiled gratefully, looking straight into his eyes.

"Thank you." Lowering her eyes, she picked up a spoonful of ice cream. "You know this doesn't mean I'm not giving him a talk."

"I assumed." Luke stood up, picking up his rag again and starting to wipe a table clean.

In the meantime, outside.

"I assume she knows." Jess smirked as soon as he'd caught up to Rory, draping his arm over her shoulders and glancing back at the diner. "And you really walk fast. Are you exercising behind everyone's backs?"

"Yes. And no." Rory smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"How'd it go? She didn't kill me so…"

"It went better than I thought it would. She even invited you over for a movie night." Leaning over, she placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Huh."

"That's not a yes or a no." She smiled as they reached the bridge before sitting down. Taking his hand in hers, she looked down at their fingers intertwined together, biting her lip. "You don't have to come."

"Ok. I won't." Jess shrugged, smirking.

"Can you consider it for a second before shooting it down?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather spend an evening listening to 'N Sync and reading Sparks than with your mother."

"And me!"

"Ok, I enjoy spending time with you." He leaned closer, kissing her. "That doesn't mean I have any desire to spend time with your mother."

"Please, Jess."

"Why does it matter?"

"It would help you guys get along better."

"And?"

"It would be easier."

"What would be?"

"Everything." She took a deep breath, biting her lip. "We've already established that you like-like me. I mean, I kind of figured that's what this is about." She motioned between them, blushing and Jess leaned closer, kissing her. "Good answer." Rory smiled when he pulled back. "And if mom got to know you, she'd stop being worried, which would make it easier for this…" She squeezed his hand. "…To happen without any fighting. She keeps changing her mind about you, I just think that if you spend some time in the same room, she'd get that she was wrong about you all along. So will you please come?"

"You can't pretend to give me a choice if I don't really have one."

"You do." She tried to argue, still chewing on her lip.

"You've been telling me how this would make everything so much better since I said no. That's not much of a choice." Jess chuckled.

"Ok, I'll stop. How was your evening?" She tried to change the subject but Jess shook his head, cupping her face in his hand and running his thumb across her skin, smirking slightly.

"It's a onetime thing only. I come for a movie, stay for a couple of hours then leave and we never speak of it again. And I get your copy of _Guilty of Everything_ now instead of having to wait for you to finish reading it, because you've been dragging your feet all week."

"I've had a lot of school work!" She protested before she realized what he'd said. "So you're actually coming?"

"You owe me big time." He smirked, nodding. Jumping from her place, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek.

"Thank you."

"Bring the book with you tomorrow when you come over for lunch."

"Nuh-uh. You can get it when you're actually at my house."

"You're only doing this so you get to finish it." Jess hugged her back, pulling back and kissing her.

"You can't prove it." She laughed before his mouth found hers again.

* * *

A while later, Jess walked into the diner apartment, having dropped Rory at her house. Finding Luke sitting at the kitchen table, he took a deep breath, suddenly uncomfortable.

"You awake for a reason?" He threw his jacket on the hanger before heading to his side of the room.

"Come back here."

"I assume this is when you yell at me?" Jess grumbled, his good mood completely gone.

"Jess, I swear…" Standing up, Luke walked to his nephew, stopping in front of him. "If you hurt her in any way…"

"Lorelai, what a deep voice you have!"

"This isn't funny."

"Nah, just slightly ridiculous." Jess walked to the dresser, opening the top drawer and starting to look through it, ignoring Luke.

"Hey, look at me."

"Why? I'm pretty sure I can guess how the rest of that speech goes so how about I save us both the trouble?" He turned around, glaring at his uncle. "I need to take a shower, mind not following me in there?" He pointed at the door to the bathroom.

"Shut up for two seconds and listen to me. I will be on your side on pretty much everything people in this town tell me. If Taylor or Kirk or Babette or anyone comes to me and tells me you've done something to them or their property, I'll defend you. You've pulled quite a few stunts and I have not sent you back to your mother, despite it being well within my rights to do so. However, if I hear the smallest rumor about you hurting Rory or doing anything to her that Lorelai would not approve of, you will be out of here so fast you won't even hear the freaking door closing behind you because you'll be halfway through New York already!"

"Ok." Jess nodded, lifting the t-shirt in his hand in the air. "Now can I go shower or do you feel the need to go on another long diatribe on what I can and cannot do, despite the fact that, you know, it's not just about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think it means, Einstein? Here's a thought for you-Rory gets just as much of a say in this as I do. You want to cast me in the part of the corrupter of the young innocent small town girl? Fine. But you assuming I'm going to somehow ruin her is not only slightly less than supportive uncle material, it's also insulting to her."

"I didn't mean…" Luke backpedaled, caught off-guard.

"No, I'm sure you didn't." He shook his head, exhaling loudly. "I'm going to go shower. If you think of anything else to lecture me on, write it on a post-it and stick it to the fridge."

"Don't hurt her, Jess." Luke called after his nephew and Jess shook his head, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey." Jess smiled as Rory opened the door to her house the next evening, a paper bag in his hand. "I brought some food."

"You know we're ordering pizza, right?" After making sure Lorelai wasn't walking out of the kitchen, Rory leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Have I thanked you enough for doing this?"

"No." He shook his head and Rory stepped to the side, holding the door open for him.

"Want to come in?"

"Not particularly." Jess smirked, walking in. "Where do you want this?"

"Kitchen's fine."

"I reiterate my point-you owe me." He pointed his finger at her, placing another quick kiss on her lips before heading towards the kitchen. Seeing Lorelai stand next to the kitchen table, arranging Twinkies on a place he straightened up, his smirk going away completely.

"Oh, hey, Jess!" Lorelai exclaimed, trying to fake excitement. "What do you think? Too many Twinkies or just enough?"

"Is there such a thing as too many Twinkies?" Jess shrugged, dropping the bag on the table.

"And he brings food! Come over more often, will you?"

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Jess looked around and Rory ran her hand down his arm, smiling. "Thank you." She whispered before looking at her mother. "Mom, Jess and I are going to go grab a couple of books from my room."

"No reading at movie night!" Lorelai pouted, lifting the plate. "I'll go finish setting the table and call for pizza. Jess, any preferences?"

"Whatever."

"I'll be in the living room." She rolled her eyes as she walked past her daughter. Walking into Rory's room, Jess let out a breath as he picked up a book from the desk, starting to leaf through it.

"I came, I brought food, can I leave now?" He looked up, smiling.

"One movie, a slice of pizza, that's it." Rory walked over to him, kissing his cheek before grabbing another book from a shelf and handing it to him. "You can have this one as well."

"Bribing me with Wolfe? Might just work." He kissed her quickly before grabbing the books from her, getting ready to walk to the living room.

A couple of hours later, they were sitting around the living room.

"No way! I raised you better than that!" Lorelai exclaimed, indignation in her voice.

"Mom, I'm not arguing this with you again."

"That's because you know you're wrong and Freddy is so much scarier!"

"Jason! At least he's the one that's more than a severed head at the end of _Freddy vs. Jason_." Rory fought back while Jess watched the two, amused.

"Freddy can get you in your sleep!"

"But he's basically powerless if you're awake!"

Lorelai sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't care how many machetes Jason can get his hands on, lack of sleep is way worse."

"To be fair, had it not been for Lori, Freddy would have just killed Jason and gotten it over with." Jess chimed in and both girls looked at him, surprised. "Plus, a guy that can get you both in your dreams and real life, no matter how human-like he is in reality? Scarier than one that has powers in just one realm."

"Yes!" Lorelai exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Thank you, Jess!"

"Never thought you were going to say that, did you?" He smirked, looking at the woman.

"Not without you handing me coffee, in any case."

"Aw, you're both ganging up on me?"

"Don't worry, sweets, at least we can still agree that Leatherface has the the most disgusting mask in slasher flick history."

"There is that." Rory stood up, looking at the kitchen. "I'll go grab a soda, anyone need anything?"

"Nope." Both Lorelai and Jess shook their heads as she walked past them and out of the room. Grabbing another slice of pizza, Lorelai offered Jess the box. "Want it?"

"Oh, offering me the last slice of pizza? Are you having a stroke? Should I call you an ambulance?"

"I'll start calling you son next." She smiled and the young man took the slice, smirking.

"Thanks for the pizza."

"I will kill you if you hurt her, you know that, right?" She looked at him, slightly more serious and Jess nodded.

"Oh, yeah."

"This also applies to her breaking any laws while she's with you and getting her home after curfew."

"Got it." Jess nodded, hoping Rory would walk back in the room.

"Trust me, Freddy and Jason have nothing on me." She grabbed the remote from the table, flipping through the special features menu on the DVD.

"What did I miss?" Rory walked back in the room, taking her seat again.

About twenty minutes later, Jess stood up, grabbing the books from the table. "I should head back to the diner."

"I'll walk you out." Rory offered, looking at her mother. "You'll be lying here on the couch?"

"Like a beached whale."

"I'll be right back."

"Bye, Lorelai." Jess nodded and she waved back. As soon as they were outside, Jess crushed his mouth to Rory's, making her grin as she settled her hands on his hips.

"Was it that bad?" She whispered between kisses and Jess shook his head.

"Could've been worse."

"Will you do it again?"

"Ok, give me some time to recover." He smirked, kissing her again. "You should get back inside."

"Yeah." Rory nodded. "Thank you. It really…"

"It's ok." After placing one last kiss on her lips, he pulled back, a hint of regret on both their faces. "Bye."

"I'll see you for lunch tomorrow." She smiled, waving as he walked away. Going back in the house, Rory sat down on the couch next to her mother, grabbing a couple of cold fries from the table.

"Thank you for being nice to him, mom."

"You're welcome." She rubbed her daughter's arm, smiling. "He's…"

"You can say it. Come on."

"Fine, he's not bad! He mocked the movie with us and he has an opinion on which monster is better." Lorelai admitted, making a face. "I need to wash my own mouth with soap now."

"You only liked that because he was on your side. Is he going to be invited over again?"

"As long as he brings food, he's always welcomed in this house."

"That's not nice."

"If he's going to come over, I may as well get something out of it." She chuckled. "Do we have enough Red Vines for another movie?"

"Yeah, I think so." Rory nodded, standing up again and picking up another DVD. "What else did you get?"


	14. Inappropriate Behavior

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. **

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* * *

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**Inappropriate Behavior **

"I'm telling you, there's definitely something going on. He was at their house last night!" Babette whispered, looking at the young man reading behind the counter.

"Do you think it's why she..." Hushing suddenly when the teenage girl walked into the diner, Miss Patty watched her as she walked to the counter, smiling.

"Hey." Rory grinned at him and he put his book down, shooting Babette and Patty a look and they quickly turned their heads, pretending to look out the window.

"Hi. Upstairs?"

"Andrew's?"

"Works for me." Sticking his head in the kitchen, he found his uncle standing in front of the stove, cooking. "Luke, I'm going out." Before the man could say anything, he walked back outside, heading to Rory. "Let's go." Draping his arm over her shoulders, he kissed her cheek, smirking when she blushed and glanced at Babette and Patty, who were watching them again, mouths open in shock.

"You had to do that in there?" She tried to protest as soon as they were outside, pointing with her head at the diner, wrapping her arm around his waist at the same time.

"Yeah." He kissed her cheek again, still smirking. "They've been debating it all morning, it was driving me crazy."

"And that's a good enough reason to make us the center of gossip for the next month?"

"What's the big deal?"

Shaking her head, Rory smiled. "I just think it's none of their business."

"They were going to find out eventually."

"Yes." She agreed, nodding.

"And there was always going to be gossip."

"I know."

"So?"

"So nothing. I would have preferred some sort of warning, that's it." She smiled and he leaned closer to her ear.

"Ok. I'm now going to kiss you, because Taylor is looking at us and I want to see his head completely explode. Good enough warning?" Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk for a second, not giving her a chance to reply, he cupped her face in his hand, before kissing her passionately. As soon as he pulled back, he put his arm over her shoulder again, smirking sarcastically and waving at the older man, who was also staring at them.

"You're a jerk sometimes." Rory smiled, not noticing the other young man who was watching them from behind the windows of the grocery shop.

"You have to admit it was slightly entertaining." He chuckled and Rory blushed slightly, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"Maybe."

Kissing her forehead, he smiled softly before both of them walked into the bookshop. Waving at Andrew, they headed towards the back shelves, ignoring the couple of people staring at them.

"How long until Taylor realizes what happened and barges in here?" Rory smiled, glancing over her shoulder, looking at the door.

"Probably not for a while." Jess picked up a book after kissing her again.

Looking up from her book a while later, Rory smiled, running a hand through his hair. "How's the book?"

"Not bad. Why?"

"I'm hungry."

"And that's unusual how?" He smirked, closing the book and leaning over, placing a small kiss on her lips.

"Can we go back to the diner?"

"What are my chances of getting you upstairs after lunch? To discuss literature, of course." He whispered in her ear, watching her as she blushed. "You make this too easy." Jess chuckled and she slapped his arm.

"Get me food and we'll talk."

Walking in the diner a few minutes later, Rory sat at the counter, leafing through one of the books he'd bought as Jess headed behind the counter to get her coffee.

"How are you already halfway through this? We were only in there for like an hour."

"Easy read." He shrugged, pushing a full mug in front of her, noticing Kirk walking in the diner and sitting at a table, keeping an eye on them. "What do you want to eat?"

"Cheeseburger, fries, see what you can find for dessert. Maybe some onion rings as well."

"You do know the diner's not responsible for your medical bills when you've eaten yourself into a heart attack, right?"

"Luke's told me before." Rory grinned, putting his book down. "Remind me to borrow this from you once you're done with it."

"I'm sure you'll remember. And bug me to death until I finish it." Jess smirked, leaning over the counter and placing a quick kiss on her lips, seeing Kirk write something down. Rolling his eyes, he walked to the kitchen, handing Caesar the order before walking back out to Rory.

"It's not my fault you bought the book I wanted." She smiled when he was back, sipping from her cup.

"They had more than one copy."

"But this way, I can buy different books and then switch with you. Double the books, same amount of money." Rory snickered.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were only dating me to have easier access to my books."

"Nah, I had that before." She smiled, biting her lip playfully.

"Careful, next you're going to admit you're actually doing this for less pure reasons."

Blushing again, she looked down, staring intently at her coffee cup.

"See? Way..." He drew out the word, chuckling. "...too easy."

"Jerk." She mumbled, smiling at the same time.

* * *

Walking into the kitchen of her house later that day, Rory saw Lorelai sitting at the table, flipping through a magazine.

"Hey." Rory greeted, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Done flaunting your inappropriateness around town?" Lorelai snickered as her daughter sat down.

"What?"

"Taylor called."

"Oh..." Blushing, Rory closed her eyes, sighing. "What'd he say?"

"Let's see..." Pausing for a second, Lorelai cleared her throat, preparing herself for the monologue that was about to follow. "You and that no-good punk are just brandishing your lewd behavior in front of him! Do you not realize that children can see you? You've scarred the entire future generation of Stars Hollow for ever and ever. Also, kissing at the counter? That is clearly a health code violation and he will personally have a talk with Luke about it and what kind of a mother am I to allow you to do such things? Irresponsible parenting at its finest. Letting you have time alone, unsupervised with that delinquent? This is not acceptable and if I won't put an end to it, he will."

"You're kidding." Rory snorted, seeing her mother roll her eyes.

"No, I'm summarizing." Lorelai laughed, shaking her head. "I stopped him from bringing it up at the town meeting, but I'd be more careful if I were you."

"Jeez." Sighing, she put her head on the table, grimacing.

"Don't worry, Taylor's insane."

"He wasn't even in the diner!"

"Oh, no, that's from Kirk's report. I shouldn't be worried, he's asked him to follow you around to make sure you don't join him in any of his illegal activities."

"What does he think we are? Bonnie and Clyde ?"

"Yes. But you shouldn't worry, someone will play you beautifully in the movie. Faye's too old now."

"You're ok with all of this?" Rory mumbled, looking at her mother.

"Hon, you're a teenager. I expect you to act like one from time to time. Walking around, making out with your boyfriend isn't exactly unheard of."

"We weren't making out."

"Well, no, according to Taylor, you were practically auditioning for an X-rated movie."

"Christ." She sighed again, drinking from her coffee. "He's insane." Standing up, she picked up her cup, heading for her room.

"By the way, I told Taylor to call Kirk off, but you might want to check your surroundings for the next few days, just in case."

"Thanks, mom."

"Any time."

* * *

Picking up a box of cereal from the shelf of the store, Rory looked at it, making a face before putting it back.

"Not enough sugar..." She mumbled before picking up another one. Checking the box quickly, she smiled, finally satisfied with her selection before dropping it in the basket and heading towards the condiments section. Turning around on the next aisle, she spotted the tall, lanky boy and bit her lip, freezing on the spot. Seeing her as well, he sighed before waving.

"Hey." Dean greeted, his voice slightly insecure.

"Hi." She almost whispered back, clinging to the basket. "I...your shift...not today..."

"I picked up an extra shift." He shrugged.

"Figures." Rory mumbled, cursing silently at the universe for throwing them together. "So...you're good?"

"I'm good." He nodded. "You?"

"Yeah, good." Pointing in a random direction, she laughed nervously. "I should probably...uh...go."

"I saw you with him yesterday." Dean stated before she could leave and she frowned, looking at the young man.

"So?"

"He's not good for you, Rory."

"I appreciate your concern, but I've got it."

"He's gonna..."

Shaking her head, she cut him off mid-sentence. "What I do or don't do doesn't concern you. You can believe anything you want, but Jess is a nice guy."

"Sure he is."

"I'm done." She huffed, grabbing a bottle of ketchup before starting to storm towards the registers.

"Rory, I'm just saying..." Dean tried to smile, attempting to calm her down as he walked after her.

"And I'm just saying I don't care." She spun on her heels, looking him in the eyes. "You lost all rights to take an interest in my love life when you broke up with me. So keep your opinions of Jess and our relationship to yourself, ok?" She ranted before slamming the basket next to the register, smiling weakly at the girl behind the counter as she pulled the money out of her pocket, ignoring the shocked looks she was getting from everyone in the store, starting with Dean. Walking in the diner a few seconds later, she wrapped her arms around Jess who was standing at the counter, reading, keeping an eye out on the diner as well. Putting his book down, he returned the hug, kissing her temple.

"Thought you had to study."

"I do. Just..." Before she could finish her thought, she saw Babette and Patty starting to whisper again and Kirk take notes so she let go. "Ok, everyone? I get it. You don't like me dating Jess. But guess what? It's none of your business and it's not going to change, so stop the stupid gossiping and stalking us and everything else you're doing."

"What's going on?" Luke asked, walking out of the store room to find yet another room staring at Rory in shock.

"Nothing." Jess grumbled back at him, rubbing Rory's back. "Want to go somewhere else?"

"I have homework to do." She shook her head.

"I'll walk you home."

Reaching her house at the end of a very quiet walk, Rory turned around to look at Jess, smiling softly. "Thanks."

"For?"

"Walking me."

"Any time. Want to tell me what the diner was all about?"

"Long day." She shrugged, leaning closer and placing a small kiss on his lips. "Sorry."

"It's ok. Though I don't think that was the best way to stop the gossip." He smirked, cupping her face in his hand.

"Probably not." She agreed, sighing. "The only way today could get more humiliating is if you broke up with me, making that entire speech entirely pointless."

"Wasn't planning to." He shook his head, leaning in and kissing her quickly. "Though, you know, now that you mention it..."

"Jess..." She smiled, biting her lip.

"Fine, I suppose I can brave it out for a while longer to save your reputation."

"Your sacrifice is appreciated." Kissing him again, she looked at the front door. "I should probably go get started on homework."

"Need any help?"

"Sure. You're going to help." Rolling her eyes, she giggled and shook her head. "I don't think mom would be too happy with us being alone in the house without her knowing."

"She doesn't have to know." He winked, placing one last kiss on her lips before letting go and heading towards the stairs, walking backwards so he could look at her. "Have fun studying."

"Jess...?"

"Huh?"

"I ran into Dean. That's what started this."

Tensing up slightly, he stopped walking and looked at her. "And?"

"Got into a fight."

"Ok." He shrugged. "I should let you get on with your homework."

"Don't...do anything, ok?"

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he cocked his eyebrows, sighing. "Wasn't going to."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you at the diner." He smiled softly and she nodded, waving him goodbye.


	15. Rory Gilmore, Queen of the World

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and I am sorry about the time it takes me to update but seriously *****insert whine here about chemistry taking over my life*. I'm trying. Hope you like it. **

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**Rory Gilmore, Queen of the World**

"I hate it when she has a point!" Rory grumbled, dropping her backpack on the floor as she sat down at a table with her mother.

"Hey, how is it that you're the one getting here later, even though I'm the one with the job?" Lorelai asked absentmindedly.

"I had something to cover for the _Franklin._ Now focus, I need sympathy and opinions."

"What has Paris done now? Because I assume..."

"It's always her." Rory groaned, looking around the diner desperately. "Why is there no one coming towards me with a cistern filled with coffee?"

"Luke's in the kitchen and last I saw your Prince Charming, he was heading towards the storeroom with a book in his hand. I don't anticipate seeing him again until Luke starts screaming."

"If I have a meltdown, you think anyone will come?"

"Here, have my cup." Lorelai pushed her cup towards her daughter, hesitating slightly.

"You're my favorite mother." She mumbled, gulping down the liquid.

"You're replacing that as soon as one of them appears."

"I'll go hunt Jess down as soon as I'm done. She's so infuriating!"

"Ok, connect the dots for mommy so I can hate her with you." Lorelai laughed.

"She's forcing me to run for student government with her! She had a meltdown because no one likes her and they're all going to vote for who's more popular and she scares people and now she wants me to be vice-president."

"You…"

"Oh, that's not it!" She cut Lorelai off, shaking her head. "I need to make buttons with our faces on them for when we announce it tomorrow and, if we win, I have to spend my summer in Washington! Very likely sharing a room with her! I can't do this, I'm going to end up killing her!" Taking a deep breath as soon as she was done, she looked at her mother, calm. "What do you think?"

"Kid, if you don't want to do this, and that's the way it sounds to me, you don't have to."

"I do."

"No, you don't."

"Yeah, I do." Rory nodded, drinking some more coffee. "This is the most annoying thing because she is right and I hate it when she's right, it would look really good to Harvard."

"You have plenty of things that look good to Harvard."

"Nothing as impressive as vice-president of the student government at Chilton."

"You could run for president. Truly annoy her." Lorelai offered, chuckling.

"I think it's too late to put in my candidacy. Plus she would kill me." She accentuated the last couple of words, grinning.

"Run for Queen of The World. Harvard will have to take you and you'll be able to squish Paris if she dares to annoy you again. Plus, imagine having that on a business card!"

Walking up to their table, Luke put down a cup, the coffee pot in his hand.

"Haven't I already given you coffee?"

"Me? I have no idea what you're talking about. I just got here." She smiled evilly, winking at her daughter at the same time.

"Yeah, Luke, this was mine all along."

"But…" The man tried to protest but ended shaking his head, knowing he wasn't going to win. "What can I get you?"

"Pie. With pie on the side. And see if you can put some pie on top of that." Rory smiled at the man as he refilled her cup.

"Have either of you seen my slacker of a nephew who is, yet again, not working?"

"Storeroom." Lorelai chimed in, tilting her head towards the room. "And get me some onion rings, a cheeseburger, fries and I'll let you know about dessert after I'm done. I'm thinking donuts, but I want some time to change my mind. "

"Oh, yeah, add all that to my pie as well, Luke."

"You're both going to be dead before 50." He announced before heading towards the store room.

"This is going to suck, isn't it?" Rory mumbled, watching Luke as he emerged out of the room again, dragging Jess behind him, holding him by his sleeve. Flashing him a small smile, she waved and he nodded back, trying to head for their table but Luke frowned, pointing at another table. Shrugging, Jess pulled out his order pad, heading towards the table indicated to him, glaring at Luke.

"I don't want to spend my last official high school summer in Washington, with Paris! 6 stupid weeks. And all of next year…ugh."

"You can still back out. If it's going to stress you out this much..."

"Thanks, but I've kind of made up my mind. And it's not like it's definitive yet, we still have to win."

"Of course you'll win, she'll scare everyone into voting for her."

"You need to help with the buttons."

"I'm your Charles Black, hon. Only less male. And definitely less Republican."

As soon as they were done eating, Lorelai picked up her purse, motioning for the door. "Ready to go? We can stop and pick up supplies and a movie to help with the button making. How about _Election_?"

"I dislike you immensely sometimes." Rory grimaced, glancing at Jess. "I was kind of hoping I'd..."

"Get to spend time with a boy instead of your mother? Right, I get it. That's how it is."

"Ten minutes. It will take you longer than that to pick a movie."

"You'd let me…"

"Ten minutes." Rory pointed out again, making her mother smile.

"Fine, I'll see you at the DVD store."

As soon as he spotted Lorelai leaving alone, Jess threw his rag behind the counter, poking his head in the kitchen. "Taking my break." Walking up to Rory, who was standing next to the door, he took her hand as they hurried outside, sneaking in the alley behind the diner. After making sure no one else was around, Jess backed her up against a wall, his hands going to her waist as his mouth attached itself to hers.

"You're very distracting, for the record." He mumbled between kisses.

"How?" She managed to whisper back, breathless.

"You're sitting there. That's more than enough." Blushing, she looked away from him and he took the opportunity to trail kisses across her jaw line. Pushing him away gently, she smiled, running her fingers through his hair.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Can't this wait? I have to get back to work and I assume Lorelai is going to send the patrol out for you shortly."

"Not really. I may be away this summer."

"I picked up some mutterings. Washington, right?"

"Yeah, I'm running for student body vice president. Paris's idea." She made a face and he kissed her again, pulling her body even closer to his.

"How long?"

"Six weeks." Putting her hands on his chest, she pushed him back again, she smiled. "Opinions?"

"Sounds like the kind of thing Harvard would like." Jess shrugged, running his thumb down across her shirt. "Just don't bring up Bukowski and you'll be fine." He smirked.

"Ok." Rory nodded, grinning as she moved her hands back around his neck, hugging him closer. "We can resume."

"Finally." He snickered before his mouth found hers again.

* * *

"You sure you haven't changed your mind on coming to Sookie's wedding with me?" Rory pouted slightly a few days later, looking at Jess who was standing behind the counter.

"I'm good."

"Would you have done it if my grandparents weren't coming?"

"I'm not going to keep having this conversation." He smirked, leaning over and kissing her quickly. "Drop it."

"Oh, come on!"

"Rory…" He sighed and she nodded, smiling.

"Sorry. I just want to spend as much time with you, in case I do have to go away for the summer."

"Hey, I volunteered to skip school."

"Sure. That's going to work. Plus, it's your last week of school."

"Therefore nothing of significance will happen so I don't have to go anyway."

"Jess…" She mimicked his earlier tone, making him smirk.

"Fine, I already said I won't do it."

"Last days of school are fun!"

"Oh, yeah, tons of it."

"Shush, you Scrooge." She stuck out her tongue, laughing. Walking in the diner, Lorelai sat down next to Rory, waving quickly at Jess. Pouting her a cup of coffee, he picked up his order pad, heading towards one of the tables.

"How is it that every time I walk in here, he leaves?" Lorelai looked after the teenager and Rory smiled.

"He's supposed to be working."

"Ok, I have some news."

"Good news?"

"Unexpected news. Your dad called and he's coming for a visit on Sunday. Said he wants to meet us for lunch."

"That's…unusual."

"Yeah, I know."

"Did he say anything more?"

"Nope. Just that he has something to tell us, but didn't want to do it over the phone."

"How did he sound?"

"Like himself." Lorelai shrugged, sipping from her coffee cup.

"Weird."

"Oh, yeah."

* * *

Walking around the garden of the Independence with Lane, Rory smiled, spotting Jess leaning against a tree. After quickly excusing herself, she hurried up to him, trying to stay as calm.

"What are you doing here? Something wrong? Did the diner…"

"Everything's fine." He shrugged, looking her up and down. "You just used wearing a dress as an argument when you were trying to get me to this thing. Figured I'd see what I was missing."

"Oh…" Catching her breath, she blushed, biting her lip.

"Looks nice."

"Thanks." She felt even more blood rush to her cheeks and she looked down, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Really nice." He whispered, moving slightly closer and wrapping his fingers around hers. Cupping her face with his other hand, he waited for her to look at him again before placing a small kiss on her lips.

"Thank you." She replied, this time her voice more secure.

"How's the wedding going?"

"Hasn't started yet." Pulling his hand away, she looked at his wristwatch, making him chuckle. "It's supposed to, though, and very, very soon so I should…uh…"

"It's ok, I wasn't planning on staying anyway."

"Too bad, it's actually fun."

"Are your grandparents here?"

"Yeah…" She mumbled.

"So?"

"You have a point."

Leaning in, he kissed her one more time before looking at the inn. "Go before you miss the ceremony."

"I'm a bridesmaid, someone's going to come looking for me if they're about to start and I'm not there."

"And that's the better choice?"

"Good point."

"Have fun." He called after her as she started hurrying back towards the ceremony site.

* * *

Hearing a knock at the front door, Lorelai got up lazily, mumbling under her breath. Opening the door, she saw Christopher standing on the other side, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey, Lor." He greeted, trying to smile and she hugged him quickly.

"Hi. I thought we were meeting you at Luke's."

"We were." Exhaling loudly, the man glanced behind him. "I saw Rory in town with a boy when I was trying to find a parking space and just figured I'd try my luck and see if I could get you alone first."

"Chris, what's wrong?" She resisted the urge to make a joke, starting to get concerned. "And the boy's her new boyfriend."

"Can we go inside?"

"Sure." She stepped to the side, making room for the man to walk in before closing the door behind them. "Come in the kitchen, I'll get you coffee."

As soon as they were in the kitchen, she poured two cups of coffee, handing one to the man before sitting down. "Ok, tell me what's going on. Because my mind is just going in really, really bad places and it's scaring the hell out of me."

In the meantime, outside the house. Holding Jess' hand as they walked towards her house, she stuck out her tongue, giggling. "Will you let it go? It's not like I left it at home on purpose!"

"No, you broke a promise. I'm hurt. Destroyed. Anyone else, I could have seen this, but you…" He laughed as well, pulling her closer to him and kissing her, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

"We're so going to get lectured by Taylor." She whispered against his mouth before checking to see if the man was around.

"Nope, you will. I don't listen to him."

"Fine, he'll talk to Luke and then Luke will lecture you."

"So?"

Making a face, she kissed him quickly before starting to drag him towards her house again. "Go on, let's get your book before your life is irremediably ruined by its absence and you have to cry yourself to sleep or something. I don't have much time, dad's supposed to be at Luke's in 10 minutes."

"I'll be at the bridge when you're done."

"He's not that bad, Jess."

"Pass." He smirked, wrapping his arm around her waist. "I have enough of Lorelai glaring at me."

"Dad's not the father with a shotgun type."

"Don't care." He shrugged, placing a couple of kisses down her neck.

"Fine, but next time he's in town…"

"We'll talk about it then."

"Thank you." She placed a kiss on his cheek before pulling away, untangling herself from his arms as they reached her house. "Now be good for 2 minutes."

Faking a sad look, he kissed her again as her hand stopped on the knob to the back door to her house.

"Behave." She laughed, turning around, trying to stop laughing.

"Sherry's pregnant." Christopher announced as Rory opened the door, stopping dead in her tracks as she heard the man.


	16. Not fixable, forgiveable

**A/N: I want to recommend to all of you to avoid being college seniors at all costs. Really, it's not worth it. Even less worth it when everyone seems to voluntell you for everything because you're nice and all your deadline are in the same week. It's ok, I have a nervous breakdown scheduled for mid-December. **

**Anyway, had to get that out. Thank you for the reviews and the continued support, even when real life gets in my flippin' way. It's my birthday on Saturday, be nice and give me a review present! :D**

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**Not fixable, forgiveable. **

_"Sherry's pregnant." Christopher announced as Rory opened the door, stopping dead in her tracks as she heard the man. _

After a few minutes of stunned silence, Rory straightened her back, her voice cold. "I sure do know when to make an entrance, don't I?" Not giving anyone a chance to say anything more, she glanced at Christopher. "Congratulations."

"Rory, I didn't mean for you to find out like this."

"No, I assume I was supposed to have some coffee and a burger to distract me with. A bit late now, but we can pretend I didn't hear you. Go on, I'll sit down, grab a mug, whatever you want." She almost hissed and Lorelai stood up, putting her hand on her arm reassuringly.

"Hon, it's…"

"No. I don't care about what he has to say." Looking at her father again, she bit her lip. "I haven't seen you in months, ok? I don't care that you and mom were in a fight; you're my dad and I would have liked to maybe have more than phone contact with you. Though, you know, given your track record that is completely unsurprising. And now you're only here because this happened and you'd have felt guilty if you'd just told us on the phone or something. So I don't feel like sitting here and hearing you gush about your new child." Forcing a smile for her mother, she crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm going out with Jess, I'll be back later."

"Ok." Lorelai nodded, rubbing her daughter's arm again quickly.

"Rory, don't…" Christopher tried to stop her, but she shot him a look.

"Go be there for your other kid, I don't need you." Opening the back door again, she left in a hurry, with Jess getting ready to follow her, not before Lorelai had a chance to mouth _"Take care of her."_ at him. Nodding once, he closed the door behind him, catching up to Rory who was almost running towards town.

"Lorelai, I need to…"

"You don't need to do anything, Chris." She tried to smile, sitting back down. "Let her calm down, she'll come back."

"But…"

"Trust me." Sighing, she stuck her fingers in the handle of her almost empty mug, twirling it around in her hands. "Go on, talk."

* * *

Reaching the old bridge, Rory started pacing around while Jess stood to the side, watching her, trying to give her space.

"I can't freaking believe him! Actually, no, wait, I can! It's not like he's ever been anything other than a self-absorbed jerk!" Biting her lip, she wrapped her arms even tighter around her body as she threw her head back. "What did he think I was going to say? Oh, congrats, you'll now have another child to completely ignore? Or maybe you've learned something and I should be happy that my half-brother or sister won't get to spend birthdays and holidays wondering if you were even going to remember to call! I'm so happy for you." She tried to put as much fake cheerfulness in as she could, laughing bitterly at the same time. "I just…" Finally looking into his eyes, she shrugged, biting her lip again. "Am I horrible?"

"No." Jess shook his head, his hands buried in his pockets. "You're not."

Walking up to him, Rory wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could and he responded, placing a small kiss on her temple.

"He's so…" She sighed, trying to hold back tears. "I want to be happy for him and Sherry, I really do, but…"

"It's ok." Kissing her temple again, Jess hugged her tighter.

Calming down again, she took a deep breath, not letting go of him. "Sorry you had to be there for that."

"You kidding me? Seeing you go on a rampage is always worth it." He smirked, trying to get her to cheer up.

"At least you were entertained." She smiled weakly, letting go of him and sitting down on the bridge, waiting for him to sit next to her. "On a scale of one to ten, how mean…?"

"About fifty."

"So I should apologize?"

He shrugged, circling her waist with his arm, dangling his legs over the edge. "I'm not sure I'm the person to tell you what you should do."

"I'll take anything."

"It's your call." Jess shook his head, rubbing her back slowly.

"I need to define 'anything' for you, don't I?" She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I…don't know."

"You don't have to know. Take some time, think about it, decide. Or just go with your gut. Whatever." Leaning over, he kissed her shoulder softly as she eased into him, looking down at her fingers that were drawing small lines on the edge of the bridge.

"I don't hate him or anything, despite all I've just said. And he isn't a bad guy."

"I don't know, I don't have much sympathy for a guy who doesn't stick around to raise his kid."

Smiling softly at him, slightly surprised at his vehemence, Rory kissed Jess' cheek. "We did just fine without him." Sighing, she looked down again. "I just wish he'd been around more." Wiping the corner of her eye quickly, she looked at Jess again. "I'm sorry, this must sound really selfish to you."

"'S ok." He hugged her closer, shrugging.

"But you didn't even get that once in a while phone call and…"

"Focus on your problems, you can Freud me some other time."

Nodding, she took a deep breath, getting ready for another session of out-loud analysis. "Don't get me wrong, I want dad to be there for that kid and Sherry and everything. But…"

"But being on his side would be easier if he'd been there for you as well?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's it."

"Unless one of you has the WABAC machine…"

"I'm out of luck. I know."

Kissing the top of her head, Jess smirked, standing up. "Go on, let's go back to the diner. I'll get you some food and coffee while you decide if or how long you'll freeze him out for."

"I…"

"Decisions shouldn't be made on an empty stomach, isn't that some sort of Gilmore commandment? Because it sounds like it should be."

"It is." She grinned, standing up as well and taking his hand.

* * *

Walking into the diner apartment a while later, Luke spotted the two teenagers on the couch, reading in silence, Rory's head resting on Jess' shoulder while his arm was wrapped around her. Clearing his throat once, embarrassed at having interrupted the scene, Luke watched them as they jumped apart, with Rory blushing.

"Your mother's downstairs. She asked me to…"

"Thanks, Luke." She smiled quickly as she rushed down the stairs, leaving Jess behind.

"What's that all about? You two just waltzed up here and, next thing I know, it's a three hours later and Lorelai's walking in the diner, looking like she'd just run over and asking me if I've seen Rory anywhere."

"None of my business. Or yours, for that matter."

"What, you anxious for more double shifts or is there some other reason why you've decided to have an attitude?"

"Yeah, that's it." Sighing, the teenager rand a hand through his hair before standing up and walking to the fridge.

"Did Lorelai know you were out with Rory?"

"Yes." Picking up a drink, Jess started juggling the can in his hands, not really paying attention.

"Did she know where you were?"

"Not unless she's developed super powers."

"Stop being a smart ass for two seconds and tell me what the hell's going on." He snapped at Jess's attitude, frustrated.

"There was fight-that I had nothing to do with…" Jess clarified, seeing his uncle's expression change. "And Rory wanted to be away from her house for a while. Satisfied?"

"Her and Lorelai?"

"Her dad." Jess shrugged.

"Christopher's back?"

"Don't worry, he's not sticking around for too long. Don't you have a diner to run instead of trying to get the gossip?" He changed the subject, not wanting to discuss the situation any further.

Giving up, Luke shook his head, pointing at the door. "I'll be downstairs, don't set the house on fire."

In the meantime, downstairs. Walking up to her mother, Rory sat down at her table.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes. You ok?" Rubbing Rory's arm gently, Lorelai smiled as the girl nodded.

"Yes. Sorry about the way…"

"Doesn't matter. He'll live." Lorelai brushed it off quickly, picking up her coffee mug.

"I'll call and apologize later."

"You don't have to."

"I want to." She shrugged, shaking her head. "I didn't really mean all those things. I'll call, apologize and tell him I am happy for him. Because I am."

"I think you're doing the right thing." Lorelai nodded.

"How was he?"

"He's fine." She lied, trying to protect her daughter's feelings. "Upset, but he'll live."

"You sure?"

"Hon, he'll understand. Don't worry about it. If you want, you can grab my phone and go call him now."

"Thanks." Rory nodded as the woman handed her the phone before darting outside. Dialing the man's number, she waited for the phone to ring, anxiously biting her lip.

"_Hey, Lor." _The man answered after a few seconds.

"Dad, it's me." She replied, taking a deep breath. "I am so, so sorry. I was so mean to you."

"_You had a point."_

"I could have at least phrased it better." She shrugged, making the man smile.

"_Rory, you were right. I never meant to make you feel ignored or…"_

"It's a bit late for the mea culpa." She tensed up again slightly, biting her lip again as she cut him off.

"_How about the apology?"_

"Never too late for that."

"_Then I want you to know I am sorry."_

"Apology accepted."

"_Are we ok?"_

"Yes." She smiled, nodding. "As long as you keep me up-to-date with everything that happens with my half-brother or sister."

"_Definitely." _

"I should probably let you go so you don't get pulled over for driving while talking on your cell or something. Take care."

"_Love you, kiddo."_

"Love you too." Walking back inside, she sat down next to her mother again, handing her the phone back.

"So?"

"Everything's cool again."

"Good."

"You ok?"

"Yeah." Lorelai confirmed, smiling.

* * *

Sitting on a stool at the counter later that evening, Lorelai sipped from her coffee mug, flipping to the next page of her magazine.

"Where's Rory?" Luke walked up to her, holding a rag in his hands.

"At the movies, with Jess."

Just for once, I'd really like it he was here, helping me close up like he's supposed to." Noticing she was quieter than usual, he forgot about his rant. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." She replied abruptly, not looking up at him.

"Lorelai…"

"Everything's peachy."

"Are you mad at me for something I did and know nothing about, yet instead of telling me you're going to sulk there all night?"

"What?" Looking at him, she smiled, slightly disheveled. "I'm not mad at you."

"Then?"

"Chris is having a baby." She sighed, shrugging. "That's why he was over today and what all the brouhaha was about. And I'm happy for him, but he's doing something with his life and I'm so…stuck. I didn't marry Max, I'm not seeing anyone…I just…want that."

"Another kid?"

"Maybe." She shrugged, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Someone to come home to at night mostly."

"And Christopher was…?" He didn't finish his thought, just looking at Lorelai instead.

"No." Shaking her head, she sighed. "We weren't really meant to be together. But I just want to know I won't end up alone with a bunch of cats or something."

"You won't." He smiled, trying to reassure her.

"What, your magic 8-ball told you that?"

"Nah." He shook his head, still smiling. "I just know."

"Thanks." She smiled back at him, standing up. "I should get home."

"Can I get you something else?"

"Advice and food. You're good." Lorelai chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm ok. I'll live."

Quickly pouring her a cup of takeaway coffee, he pushed it towards the edge of the counter. "I'm not taking any chances with hearing you complain 3 days from now that I made you leave and abandon your coffee."

"I would never…"

"Twist a situation for your convenience?"

Laughing and shaking her head, Lorelai grabbed the coffee cup, nodding. "Thanks, Luke."

"Don't mention it."


	17. Paris's Parisness

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. You're all very, very awesome. **

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** Paris's Parisness**

"So, I heard you and Prince Charming are no longer dancing around the enchanted forest together." Paris walked up to the table Rory was having lunch at, putting her hands on it and leaning closer.

"What?" Pushing her headphones down, she looked at the girl, a hint of regret as she closed her book.

"You broke up with Dean."

"Oh..." Blushing, she bit her lip, unsure of what to say. "How do you know about that?"

"I called him on Saturday afternoon, trying to find you and tell you we'd won the elections. He informed me he had no knowledge of your whereabouts, using shorter words than that. Seriously, does he ever use anything above two syllables?"

"What's going on?" Madeleine walked up to them, Louise following closely behind. "Do we like her again?"

Elbowing her friend, Louise shook her head and Madeleine smiled.

"Sorry."

"It's ok." Rory nodded, smiling back.

"Rory broke up with her boyfriend."

"Does it matter to you?" She pushed back, annoyed.

"Wait, you were dating the really tall cute one, right?"

"Yes, I was." Rory blushed again, looking down. "Can I go back to my book now?"

"Are you dating the one with the leather jacket now?" Louise chimed in, twirling a strand of hair on a finger. "He never called me."

"Me either!" Madeleine protested as well, pouting slightly. "Definitely hotter than the tall one."

Putting her headphones back on, Rory tried to ignore them, but Paris took her walkman away, pushing the stop button again. Looking at the blonde girl, Rory exhaled, starting to get angry.

"What?"

"In the future, please let me know when something like this happens. We're going to run this school together, I have to be able to get a hold of you any time I need you for something. Or get your own damn cellphone and let us avoid situations like this in the future."

"Fine. Whatever."

"So...was it Dean Moriarty's doing?"

"Argh!" Rory slammed her book shut, standing up. "No. It wasn't. And it's my private life and would seriously appreciate if you butted out of it. And, in the future, if you can't reach me, just wait a while longer. I highly doubt you'll ever have to make a decision regarding the deployment of nuclear missiles, it can wait until Monday."

"Oh, touchy." Louise laughed as Rory picked up her tray, heading towards another table.

"I thought the tall one's name was Dean? Are they both called Dean? That would get confusing." Madeleine looked at her friend, a confused look on her face and Paris shook her head.

"No." Leaving the two girls alone, she walked to the brunette girl who was now sitting at another table, taking the seat across form her.

"I figured me leaving the table was a clear enough sign that I didn't want to talk to you any more. About this or anything else."

"The tickets for Washington have been booked, we leave two weeks from Sunday." Paris completely ignored her statement.

"So that's all the time I get at home this summer?"

"We get back a week before school starts again." Paris shrugged.

"Thanks for the heads' up." Rory snapped, opening her book once more.

"So? Are you dating Jess now?"

"Does it matter? He doesn't have a cell phone, you can't call him anyway."

"Why are you so hung up on the whole calling him thing? I just wanted to talk to you."

"Because I am." Rory threw her head back, exasperated. "Who I date or don't date doesn't concern you or Madeleine or Louise or anyone in this school and I really don't appreciate having that dragged around here. And, even if I was still dating Dean, you calling him is completely insane, Paris!"

"Why?"

"Forget it. You're too you to ever understand." She sighed, picking up her sandwich. "I'll see you in class, please let me know what time the flight is."

* * *

"I swear, one of these days I am going to throttle her!" Rory grumbled, looking at her mother. "I'm Paris, I'm so special I can't wait for a couple of hours to talk to anyone!" She mimicked the girl's voice before dropping her head on the table. "I just…ugh."

"Two weeks, though? Bummer." Lorelai pouted as well, rubbing her daughter's arm. "I thought I'd get you for more than that in your last summer as a high schooler."

"Yeah, so did I." She shrugged, picking up her coffee mug. "Should I apologize to Dean for her calling him?" Glancing at the counter quickly, she made sure Jess was out of ear-shot.

"I think he may have gone back to Chicago for a few weeks. Newsstand rumor mill."

"So I'm safe to go into Doosey's any time I want? That'll come in handy for when I decide I am buying that gun and ear plugs after all for the trip."

"I think so. I'll check with Taylor later and let you know." She shrugged, smiling.

"Thanks."

"Have you told Jess about your imminent departure yet?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I didn't get a chance to. I will. By the end of today, definitely."

"Well, since I have to get back to work and save Michel from certain death or whatever, you and the boy can spend some time together."

"I may ask him over for a couple more movie nights, if that's ok with you. Trying to cram in as much time spent together as I can, while not ignoring you either."

"Good child." Lorelai laughed, standing up. "And yeah, sure, you know he's welcomed any time. I'll stop and ask about that thing for you."

"Thank you."

"Sorry Paris sucks." Lorelai picked up her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll see you at home."

"Ok."

As soon as Lorelai was out, Jess sat down at the table, refilling Rory's coffee pot. "Since you two kept looking at me, I assume I was the subject of your conversation."

"One of several."

"What's up?" He smirked, his hand covering hers briefly.

"Nothing essential. Just Paris finally let me know when we're leaving. Two weeks from Sunday."

"Huh."

"That's it?"

"Is there supposed to be more?"

"I don't know. I wasn't exactly expecting tears, but some sort of acknowledgment beyond 'huh' would have been nice." She snapped, before shaking her head slowly. "Sorry, it was a long day. Paris was at the height of her Parisness."

"'S ok." Jess smiled, tilting his head towards the stairs. "Want to go hide up there for a while?"

"Yeah." She nodded, standing up, taking her coffee cup with her.

"Jess, you're supposed to be working." Luke called to him, but he rolled his eyes, looking at Rory.

"I'll be back in 10."

Hurrying up the stairs, Jess got upstairs just as Rory was sitting on the couch, still holding the coffee mug. Closing the door behind him, he sat down next to her, putting his arm around her.

"Feel like talking about whatever's on your mind?"

"I'm sorry, you…" She accentuated the word, smiling. "…want to talk?"

"Hey, I'm trying." He defended, smirking and she leaned over, kissing him quickly.

"Thank you. And I'm just…I don't know. Overthinking, I suppose."

"What's up?"

Putting her mug on the coffee table, she looked into his eyes, sighing. "I'm going to spend six whole freaking weeks with Paris. Same room, same everything, day after day, just the freaking two of us. If she's even half as annoying as she was today, I will kill her before the first week ends. Ugh. I don't want to." She grumbled, ranting in quick fire before looking up at him again. "Plus, there's you and trying to figure that out, and missing the Sunflower Festival and being away from mom for that long!" Pausing again, she gulped down some more coffee, hoping for a new wave of energy. "I don't like sharing a room. Yeah, I'm an only child, so what? And now it's going to be six weeks of sleeping in the same room as her! And the festival, did I mention the festival?"

"Yeah, you did." Jess chuckled, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on her lips.

"Don't distract me."

"Sorry." He laughed again, pulling back.

"Seriously, why the hell did I ever agree to this?"

"Harvard." He reminded her and Rory fell back on the couch, suddenly out of energy.

"Oh, yeah. Harvard." She repeated the word before grabbing the coffee cup again, looking at him. "I suppose that's going to make it worth it, isn't it?"

"I'd think so." He smirked, leaning against the back of the couch as well. "So…what was that about having to figure me out?"

"That…" Blushing, she stared at the liquid barely covering the bottom of her cup, trying to think of something.

"Rory?"

"This is going to be really stupid, but you…and…" Taking a deep breath, she bit her lip, moving her eyes up to look into his again. "Will we still be doing…this…" She motioned between them quickly. "…When I get back?"

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"Because we barely started this and now I have to go away and I wasn't sure if we're going to keep going, or pause it while I'm gone or what?" Finishing her thought, she tried to look back down but he leaned over, kissing her quickly, taking the coffee cup away form her in the same move.

"There aren't any grounds in it, you can't read the future."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Coffee usually has all the answers."

"What do you want to do?" Jess asked and she shrugged in reply.

"I've already gone on that rant, you can at least tell me what you want to do and not let me make even more of a fool out of myself." Snickering, she shook her head. "I seem to be doing that far too often around you."

"It's because I'm irresistible. It makes you lose all ability for coherent thought."

"Modest too." Rory giggled again, finally looking him in the eyes. "So?"

"Since I don't particularly like the alternatives, I suppose we just keep dating. Since that is what this…" He mimicked her earlier gesture, motioning between them. "…Is. At least that's what I thought it was, but you know…" Cocking an eyebrow, Jess smirked, making her blush again.

"Dating." She repeated the word, her smile growing as she realized she really liked hearing him say it. "Yeah. We're dating." She nodded, jumping from her place, attacking his mouth with hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Is that settled then?" He asked when Rory pulled back and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes. Now I only need to figure out how not to kill Paris all summer."

"That I can't help you with." Jess shrugged, cupping her face in his hand, keeping her close to him. "But I do have about five more minutes until Luke realizes I've been gone for way more than ten I was supposed to, so I was thinking we could maybe take advantage of that…?" Trailing off, he smirked and Rory bit her lip, leaning in for another kiss.

"Does this mean I can convince you to come to more movie nights from now until I leave, in the interest of maximizing our time spent together?" She mumbled when they pulled back, trying to catch their breaths again.

"Not sure. What are my chances of getting away with saying no?" He smirked, kissing the corner of her mouth.

"Please." She drew out the word, grinning.

"What do I get?"

"What do you want?

"I don't know. Try bribing me with something and see how it goes."

"Spending time with me is…?"

"Not good enough, since Lorelai would chop my hand off for doing this." He smirked, running his fingers down her back slowly.

"I'll bring you a book back."

"Make it two and you have a deal."

"Fine, I'll bring you two books back." She rolled her eyes jokingly, placing a quick kiss on his lips to seal the deal.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Jess chuckled, moving closer to her again, only to jump back when he heard Luke coming up the stairs.

"Jess, you were supposed to be…"

"Coming, uncle Luke." A sarcastic smile on his face, he picked Rory's mug before heading towards the door.

"Everything ok?" Luke asked the girl, who was getting ready to leave as well and she nodded, hoping he wouldn't notice the redness in her cheeks.

"Yeah. Just talking about a book." She smiled at the man before hurrying down the stairs behind Jess.


	18. Awkward goodbyes

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. **

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**Awkward goodbyes**

"Fifteen minutes!" Lorelai called, glancing at the clock on the wall as the two teens headed towards the door, hands tightly together.

"I know." Rory smiled back at her mother, trying to keep up with Jess.

"Bye, Lorelai." The teenage boy nodded, hurrying towards the door. Slamming it closed behind them, Jess pressed her back against it, his hand going up to cup her face as his mouth covered hers, not giving her a chance to breathe.

"I don't want to leave." Rory mumbled between kisses, trying to catch her breath.

"Must say, not looking forward to not having you here either." He whispered back, his free hand sneaking under her hem of her t-shirt. "Gonna be a really long summer."

"Any chance I can convince you to change your mind and come to the airport with us tomorrow morning?"

"And ride back in the car alone with Lorelai? Really?" He cocked an eyebrow, smirking as he moved back a little and Rory pulled him back, her hands on the back of his neck.

"You two have been getting along fine for the past two weeks."

"You, buffer." He pointed out as she slapped his hand down, moving it back to her waist.

"Behave."

"No fun." He chuckled, kissing her again. "I'll see you for breakfast, we'll say goodbye then."

"But…" She drew out the word, trying to pout, but Jess pressed his mouth to hers, distracting her briefly.

"No."

"Oh, fine." She giggled and Jess smirked, pulling her bottom lip between his briefly.

"I'm sure you'll live."

"Barely." She laughed again before going in for another kiss.

"Guys, time!" Lorelai called from the other side of the door a few minutes later and Jess pulled away, a disappointed look on his face.

"One of these days she'll actually set a timer." After placing one more quick kiss on her lips, he headed down the stairs, waving when he reached the bottom. "Bye."

"See you in the morning." She smiled, heading back inside.

"You're prettier! No, you are!" Lorelai laughed in a mocking tone as soon as her daughter walked in the living room, biting down on a Twinkie. "Hoodlum gone home?"

"Yes, mom." She sighed, chuckling as she sat down on the couch. "And I love that you're so mature. Really. It's so reassuring to know you're always going to act your age."

"Mature? When have I ever claimed to be such a silly thing?" Picking up the remote, she pointed it at the TV, a questioning look on her face. "Sleep?"

"On my last night here? No way."

"My work here is done!" Lorelai giggled before changing the channel, trying to find something to watch.

* * *

"How late were you up last night?" Luke asked as he poured the two women coffee, an order pad in his other hand.

"Too late."

"Bad idea." Rory added to her mother's comment, shaking her head.

"Very bad." Lorelai groaned again, emptying half the mug in one go. "More!" She extended her hand and the man shook his head, mumbling more to himself as he refilled it.

"I'm an enabler." Looking at Rory, he tilted his head towards the stairs. "Jess is upstairs, he said you should…"

"Thanks, Luke." She grinned quickly as she rushed past him, making him shake his head again.

"Have those two actually separated at all since Rory's school ended?" He sat down at the table and Lorelai smiled happily, noticing her proximity to the coffee pot.

"Briefly. I think they have to come for air once in a while."

"Are we ok with that?"

"With two teenagers acting like…well, like two teenagers?" Lorelai shrugged, sipping from her mug. "I don't think we need to call Ripley's just yet."

"Lorelai…" Luke groaned, rolling his eyes.

"They've been hanging out with me most of the time. The five minutes alone they sneak off once in a while aren't going to cause any damage. And they're going to be apart for the summer, so we can postpone the rest of this conversation until Rory gets back."

"It's more than five minutes."

"I was trying to make a point." The woman laughed, shaking her head. "They'll be fine."

"Your concern is overwhelming." Luke smiled as well, standing up, picking the coffee pot. "I'll go make you guys some food. Do you have time to eat or do you need it to go?"

"We have time." She confirmed after checking her watch.

"Rory?"

"If she's not here in three minutes, I'll go bring them down myself. Happy?" Rolling her eyes, she looked at the man and he nodded.

"Deliriously so."

"Good. Now get your butt in the kitchen and get us everything. Rory needs all the energy she can get to survive being on an plane with Paris."

"Going."

In the meantime, upstairs.

Walking in the room, she found Jess sitting at the table, reading. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she placed a kiss on his cheek, smiling.

"Hey."

Placing his hand on top of hers, he closed the book at the same time, twisting his neck to catch her lips. "Hi."

"How redundant with me whining about not wanting to leave be?"

"Very. I've heard it all before."

"Way to be sympathetic to my plight."

"I do my best." He smirked, kissing her again. Letting go of his neck, Rory sat down on one of the other chairs and he pulled his chair closer, his hands on her knees. Unsure of what to say, he just kissed her instead and she responded happily, her fingers wrapping around his.

"God, I need to stop walking in on this." Lorelai groaned, closing her eyes when she entered the room a few minutes later. "Luke is going insane, you both need to drag yourselves downstairs right now."

Blushing, Rory nodded, avoiding her mother's eyes as she stood up, her hand not leaving Jess's. "Coming."

"You're so cute when you imitate a beetroot." She mocker her daughter, before heading down the stairs.

"Gee, thanks." Rory shot back and Jess caught up with her, placing one more kiss on her cheek before she could reach the stairs. Blushing even more, she squeezed his hand, glancing at him quickly before heading towards the diner.

"Your food is done." Luke nodded towards their table as Rory and Lorelai walked in before glaring at his nephew. "Thought we'd talked about you helping out."

"I was busy."

"Doing?"

"Anything but working." He smirked, knowing it would anger the man. Shaking her head in her seat, Rory smiled to herself before picking up a fry.

"You ready to leave?"

"No." She answered her mother's question, eating her meal at the same time. "There is no such thing as being ready for Paris."

"You'll call as soon as you get there, right?"

"Yes. And, heaven help us, give you the hotel's phone number."

"You love me, really."

"Only occasionally."

"Luke, take her food away, she's being mean to me!" She whined to the man, pouting.

"I know I keep repeating this to you, but I have a diner to run, Lorelai. I don't have time for your silliness."

"Fine." She sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever. Go run _your _diner."

"Mom, be nice to Luke, you'll need someone to keep you company while I'm gone."

"Are you implying that I'm lonely and friendless and he is my only hope to be outside of the house for anything but work all summer?"

"No, just that Luke is your friend and it would be very nice if he stayed that, because you spend a lot of time in this diner and I won't be here to keep you company."

"Damn it, I completely forgot about that. Don't leave me."

"I have to go. Harvard. Plus, Paris would come over and throttle me if I miss that flight."

"Oh, fine. Leave me. All alone. Completely deserted."

"Feeling dramatic again?"

"Only a bit." Lorelai laughed, taking a bite out of her burger.

* * *

"Ready to go?" Lorelai asked her daughter almost twenty minutes later, glancing at her phone to check the time. "We still have plenty of time to catch the flight, but, if you plan on sticking to Paris's timetable, we need to leave soon."

"Can I just…" Glancing at Jess, she bit her lip and Lorelai nodded, smiling sympathetically.

"Go say goodbye to the boy. I'll wait here."

"Thanks, mom." She smiled quickly, jumping from her chair and heading towards the door, noticing that Jess, who'd been watching them while serving coffee was already on his way there. Ducking in the alley behind the diner, Jess cupped her face in his hands, kissing her.

"Jess…" She whispered when he pulled back, trying to catch her breath. "Oxygen. You may have heard of it."

"Completely overrated." He smirked, placing another kiss on her lips.

"I see your point." She giggled as well, her fingers running through his hair. "I should go before mom walks in on this again."

"Twice in one day may be too much for her." Jess shrugged between kisses, his fingers running across her palm slowly. "I'm not really good with goodbyes."

"Me neither." Rory looked at him, biting his lip. "So…"

"I'll see you in six weeks." Jess nodded.

"I'll write?" She half asked, half stated, looking at him as her teeth bit her lip. "I mean, I'm not sure if you'd…"

"I'd like that." He cut her off with a kiss.

"Good. You'll write back?" She pushed her luck, hesitantly but smiling as the same time.

"I'm not really good with letters."

"Oh, ok." Trying to hide her disappointment, she nodded as he placed another kiss on her lips.

"I'll give it a try." Jess offered and a huge smile appeared on her face, as she started kissing him quickly.

"Thank you."

"I'm not promising it'll be any good."

"I don't care." She smiled, placing another kiss on his lips. "Anything will do."

"You really should go. I think I can hear Luke starting to pace faster." Moving his ear towards the wall, he pretended he could hear something and she giggled, nodding. "Have a safe flight." He smiled, pulling away from her after one last kiss and she took a deep breath, trying to fix her hair.

"Bye, Jess." She waved, walking backwards towards the street and he returned her wave.

"Bye. Don't forget you owe me two books." He smirked, making her laugh again.

"You want Sparks and Picoult, right?"

"Perfect." He chuckled, nodding. "Go."

"I'll see you soon, Jess."

"See you soon." Jess nodded as well, waiting for her to disappear around the corner before lighting a cigarette, leaning against the brick wall. Walking in the diner, Rory stood next to her mother's table, picking up her backpack.

"Ready."

"Yeah, I can tell." Lorelai smiled, throwing her daughter a tube of chapstick. Trying to control her giggles when Rory blushed, she stood up, walking to the counter. "Give me two more coffees to go and then you won't have to see my pretty, pretty face until tomorrow. Or tonight, depending on my mood for pizza. Or Chinese. Mmm, noodles and sweet and sour actually sounds really good…"

"Is there anything that makes you think I care?" Luke grumbled, handing her the two cups.

"Is there anything that makes you think I care about you not caring?" Lorelai stuck out her tongue, handing him the money for their meals.

"Good bye, Rory. Have fun." The man smiled at the teenager and she returned the smile.

"Thanks. I'll see you in a few weeks." Grabbing one of the cups from her mother, she opened the door, heading to the truck.

"You ready to go?" Lorelai glanced at her, sipping from her coffee.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"If Paris annoys you…"

"Count to ten and try not to kill her?"

"I was going to say go for the jugular. But sure, that might work better." Putting the cup in the holder, she turned on the engine, driving slowly. "And away we go."

"Away we go." Rory replied, less enthusiastically than before.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. It just hit me that I'm going to be away from the town and you for the summer."

"And Jess."

"And Jess." Rory admitted, biting her lip as she saw the teenage boy walk out of the alley. Waving at him, she smiled when he waved back before the car drove away, leaving him behind.

"You're gonna be just fine, kid."

"I know." She nodded, smiling. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it."


	19. Letter writing is not a yet dead art

**A/N: Sorry, everyone. I'm having some issue focusing on writing right now, with everything going on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review. **

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**Letter writing is not a yet dead art**

"_Dear Jess,_

_Saw a bookshop today. I think you would have liked it._

Scrunching the piece of paper, Rory sighed, leaning her head on the desk.

"Still trying to write that?" Paris looked up from her book, annoyed at the interruption.

"Yes."

Glancing at the increasing pile of yellow balls of paper in the trashcan, the blonde girl shook her head. "It's a letter, not the Declaration of Independence."

"Really? Would you like to write it?"

"Pass."

"Then keep your opinions to yourself and let me do this."

"As long as you do it quietly."

Glaring at her friend, Rory tried to stop herself from killing her, looking at the notepad in front of her instead. Twirling the pencil in her hand, she stopped it between her teeth and ripped the new page, getting ready to throw it away when she noticed Paris' eyes on her. Standing up, she grabbed the paper and a couple of pens, walking to the door.

"I'm going for a walk."

"Whatever."

Slamming the door behind her, Rory headed downstairs, ignoring the elevator. Settling on a bench in the hotel's yard, she pulled her knees up to her chest, the notepad on them, bringing the tip of the pencil to the paper again.

"_Dear Jess,_

_Sorry for this letter being late. I've sort of…not been sure what to write, I suppose. How are you? _

_There's this bookshop next to the hotel I'm staying at, I think you'd like it. The owner's really nice. She's a Bukowski fan, it drives Paris crazy. She's also tried to get half of the hotel staff fired so far, for every reason imaginable. I'll be surprised if we don't get kicked out before the end of the summer._

_Not much else going on. The conference is interesting. Lots of fun people. There were some rumors Hillary Clinton may come. Probably not going to happen, but I'm still excited. _

_Hope you're well. Say 'hi' to Luke for me._

_Rory"_

_

* * *

_

"_Hey._

_I hate writing letters. That's about all I have right now. _

_I'm good. You?_

_Good luck with Hillary. _

_Jess."_

* * *

"_Hey." _ Rory greeted as she picked up the phone.

"Remind me to tell you about Patty, Kirk and the dogs next time I call."

"_Why not tell me now?"_

"Because it's a really long story." The older woman giggled, sitting on a chair at the counter.

"I realize that this will be useless, but you're not allowed cell phones in the diner, Lorelai." Luke sighed.

"Say hello to Rory, Luke." Extending her arm, she waves the phone in front of the man.

"Hi, Rory. Please tell your mother…"

"So, how's Washington, hon?" Glaring at him, Lorelai moved the phone back to her ear, staring at the coffee pot instead.

"_Not bad. Paris got kicked out of the breakfast room today."_

"What did she do?"

"_Tried to barge in the kitchen and argue with the cooks over the correct way of making eggs." _

"You're kidding."

"_I wish I was."_ Rory shook her head, looking around to make sure the girl wasn't coming back.

"One of these days her Pol Pot ways are going to get her killed by the staff. Look out for any mountains of towels that look big enough to hide her body."

"_Will do." _

"Anything else new?"

"_Not really."_

"Oh, go on, talk to me. I miss you." Sipping from her coffee mug, she opened the menu, flicking through it. "Luke, get me a burger, fries and onion rings."

"_Man, I miss Luke's burgers."_

"So that's your only reply to the fact that my co-dependency issues mean that I am twenty minutes away from jumping in the car and driving over?"

"_Yes."_

"Evil."

"_I do my best." _Rory grinned, looking at the pile of books on the desk.

"Hi." Jess nodded once, dropping a plate of food in front of her.

"Hey, Jess. Rory's on the phone, do you want to talk to her?"

"I…" He hesitated, unsure.

"_Mom, don't…" _Rory tried to convince the woman but she had already extended her arm, waving the phone in front of Jess.

"Go on, Jess, you know you want to."

Making a face, he took the phone from her, running a hand through his hair. "Hey."

"_Hi." _She whispered, biting her lip.

"Sorry about my letter, I just...am really bad at it." He smirked, walking behind the curtain as Lorelai watched him, picking up her burger.

"_It's ok. It was good to hear from you any way."_

"Yeah?"

"_Yeah."_ Rory smiled, nodding. _"How's your summer going?"_

"Bored out of my mind. Have you killed Paris yet?"

"_No."_ She laughed. _"I got your books."_

"What did you get?"

"_No way. You're not finding out until I get back." _

"Mean." Jess smirked, leaning against the wall. "I should head to work. Plus I'm pretty sure Lorelai needs to rant to you about something or the other."

"_Probably. Bye, Jess."_

"Bye." He smiled, lowering his head as he walked back to the diner, handing Lorelai the phone. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She called after him as he grabbed the coffee pot, heading towards one of the tables. "Good talk?"

"_Yes. Thanks, mom."_

"I do my best. Luke's glaring at me again."

"_Then I'm going to let you go before he kills you."_

"But…" Lorelai pouted.

"_We'll talk tomorrow night. Take care."_

"You too, hon. Have fun with all the really important people. See if you can convince them that there should be some sort of tax allowance for new shoes."

"_I'll try. Bye."_

"Bye." Hanging up the phone, Lorelai dropped in her purse, raising her hands to counter Luke's angry glares. "Relax. I'm done."

"I would really prefer if you…"

"Didn't use my phone in the diner at all. Yeah, I know."

"And?"

"I'm just ignoring you at this point, to be honest." She smiled sweetly, picking up her burger.

"One of these days…" The man grumbled, heading back to the kitchen.

* * *

"_Hi,_

_I've decided, when reading your letter, that I really hate starting letters with 'dear'. It's just so…ugh. Random thought. _

_I hear Luke got in a fight with the meat guy. Sorry I missed it, sounded like fun. _

_How are you doing? Anything happen, exciting or otherwise? Paris has been calm this week. It's a bit unnerving. I'm thinking of setting some kind of alarm system next to my bed, just in case she decides to stand over it with a knife in her hand. _

_It was good talking to you on the phone the other day._

_Rory."_

* * *

"_Hey._

_For what it's worth, I agree about the 'dear' thing. Not that I write that many letters. _

_The 'fight'(it was more of a loud argument, not the brawl I'm sure Lorelai turned it into) was interesting. Taylor was there, which just spurred Luke on. I believe it was started by hotdogs, but don't quote me on that. In the end, the diner is safe and we haven't gone vegetarian. Yet. I'm not giving Luke any ideas._

_How about bubble wrap? That would make enough of a noise if she stepped on it. Just surround the bed with it. To be safe, I'd use it instead of a blanket as well. _

_Have fun. _

_Jess."_

* * *

"_Hi._

_Bubble wrap? Why didn't I think of that? You're good. I'm now seriously wondering if you can buy that much bubble wrap. _

_Apparently there's going to be no Hillary. Bummer. I think even Paris is disappointed, not that she'd ever let anyone know since that might make her seem human. _

_In the downtime, I'm reading and working on my version of this entire thing for the Franklin. All very exciting. Proust makes for good company when you have to room with the crazy. I think I understand now why he isolated himself. _

_Hope everything's good with you._

_Rory."_

* * *

Standing in front of the payphone, Jess took a deep breath, lifting the receiver and staring at it, the other hand fixed over the coin slot. Taking a deep breath, he quickly dropped the coin and dialed the number, not giving himself a chance to change his mind.

"_Hello."_ Rory greeted.

"_It could have been for me!"_ Paris grumbled form her bed, turning her back to the girl.

"Hi." Jess smiled as he ran a hand through his hair.

"_Oh…hi." _She smiled as well, taken by surprise. _"I…uh…didn't expect you to call."_

"I was at your place dropping some food from _Luke's_ the other day. The number was on the fridge. I sort of…" He hesitated, shrugging. "…don't know. Just figured I'd call."

"_I'm glad you did." _

"Good. So, Proust, huh?"

"_What, you don't like him?"_

"I think anyone that can take that long to describe eating a madeleine is bound to be right up your alley. But he's not bad."

"_I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear that."_ She laughed.

"_God, you're nauseating."_ Paris grumbled before standing up and slamming the door behind her.

"_Sorry about that."_

"Don't worry about it. So…what else is new?"

"_Nothing much. You?"_

"Same. I'm either at the diner or in town. Andrew got a new shipment in today."

"_Anything good?"_

"Bought a couple of books."

_"A couple or a couple dozens?"_

"Right. Like you're not going to raid them the minute you get back."

"_I find that accusation preposterous." _Rory giggled, shaking her head.

"Sure you do." Jess smirked as well. "I've got to go. Long distance and all that."

"_Oh, ok. Take care." _She tried to hide her disappointment.

"You too. Bye."

"_Bye." _

Hanging up the phone, Jess lit a cigarette, a half smile still lingering on his lips as he started walking back towards the diner.

* * *

"_Hi._

_Nothing much going on. _

_Rereading 'East of Eden' at the moment, as the new book stash is shockingly gone again. Make any James Dean comments at your own risk. I assure you I'll get payback for them. _

_Your mother's been spending a lot of time in the diner again, flirting with Luke. It's driving me crazy. Seriously, you need to come home and get her out of here._

_Oh, and you can buy rolls of bubble wrap in most big stores. You did not get this information from me._

_How's life? _

_Jess." _

_

* * *

_

"_Hey._

_It was really good talking to you the other night. Just...wanted to tell you that._

_You make it so easy and then you say I'm not allowed to mock? That's just not playing fair. _

_You're imagining things. Sookie and Jackson are on vacation this week so she's there because she's bored. That's it. Don't read crazy things into it. _

_Life's good. Paris is a bit too focused on everything to annoy me. We've started doing debates so she's just researching like crazy. It's nice. How's your life? _

_Is there some sort of warrant out for you for felonies relating to bubble wrap? Why is it classified information?_

_Rory."_

* * *

Sitting on a chair at the counter in the almost empty diner, Lorelai smiled when Luke poured her coffee. "Thanks."

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Just bored at home."

"Rory being away…"

"Is completely throwing me off!" She whined, laughing. "I swear, I'm going to be a mess when she leaves for college."

"Get a cat."

"You're not helping."

"Get a dog then."

Glaring at him, she shook her head. "Quick. Someone get you a microphone and a red brick wall to stand in front of."

"What's really wrong?" He asked, suddenly more concerned as her bad mood became evident.

"Do you ever get those moments where you really want to be happy for someone else, but you can't, and then you feel guilty about it?"

"Every single time my sister calls me and tells me about this great guy she's met and he's really different than all the others."

"Again?"

"Apparently she's pulling her life together this time." Luke rolled his eyes, lowering his voice instinctively.

"I hope she is. For Jess' sake." Lorelai shrugged, looking around her to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation, only to notice that the last customers had left, their money under a coffee cup.

"Oh, please." The man snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've heard this story so many times before. It's the same every time. He's different, he's special, he won't leave and take the furniture with him." Shaking his head, he took a deep breath. "Sorry, I got carried away. What's wrong with you?"

"Nah, don't apologize." She smiled back, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Chris called. He heard his baby's heartbeat today and he wanted to share it with me. And Rory, I guess he called her as well."

"How are you holding up?"

"Oh…better than I was twenty minutes ago. How are you holding up?"

"Better than I was twenty minutes ago." Luke repeated her answer, smiling.

"Suppose they're right when they said that talking to someone helps." Lorelai shrugged, finishing her coffee. "Of course, I hear getting drunk also works wonders."

Chuckling, the man nodded. "Usually."

"I'm gonna head back. Thanks for the talk."

"Any time. Do you need some food to…?"

"I ordered food from Al's a while back, I should be right on time to pick it up now."

"Ok. See you tomorrow."

"See you." Lorelai flashed the man a smile before leaving.

* * *

"_Hey._

_Life's good. Unexciting. Trying not to kill Kirk most days._

_Good to hear Paris has mellowed a bit. Good luck in the future. _

_How are you?_

_I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose any information relating to any incidents involving bubble wrap._

_Jess."_

* * *

"_Hey._

_One week left! One week left! One week left!_

_No, I'm not excited, why? Mom's picking me up and then we're going to the festival. Want to join us? I hear there's going to be cotton candy, how can you say no to cotton candy? Any way, I'll see you on Friday, at the festival or after. Or something. _

_Paris got asked out on a date by one of the guys here. He's really nice. I'm writing this in the closet, where she shoved me because I look to datable. I tried to reason with her, it went nowhere(big shock there, I know)._

_The suspense is killing me. What can one even do with bubble wrap, other than pop it obsessively?_

_I think this is about it, in any case. I'll be home on Friday. _

_Rory."_

Finishing reading the letter, Jess put it inside the pages of his book, a smile on his face.

"Everything ok?" Luke asked, walking in the apartment.

"Yeah."

"How's Rory?"

"Fine."

"Chatty, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah." Jess grumbled, standing up, putting his book in his pocket.

"Are you going to go to the airport on Friday? Wait for her with flowers?" The older man mocked his nephew, earning a glare from him. "Seriously, the way you were smiling when I walked in…"

"I'm going out."

"There's no reason to be shy about…"

Glaring at his uncle, Jess slammed the door behind him, heading down the stairs.


	20. Nat King Cole's ghost

**A/N: Do I tell you often enough how much I love it when you review? Well, I do. Trust me. A lot. Makes me all giddy and smiley. **

**Subtle hint there, eh?**

**Seriously though, thank you. You are all very, very awesome.**

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**Nat King Cole's ghost**

"That's it, you are not allowed to college!" Lorelai grinned as they drove back to Stars Hollow from the airport on Friday afternoon.

"Mom…"

"No. I'm sorry but I've decided. Harvard is too far away. Community college will have to do if you're insisting on this silly higher education idea."

"Mom, Stars Hollow doesn't have a college."

"Hartford does. You're already used to the commute. There's really no downside here."

"What about the Harvard wall?"

"I'll grab a Sharpie and write all over it. They have some letters in common, how hard can it be?"

"I'm going to stop listening to you now because you've gone to crazy land."

"You missed crazy land!" The older woman pointed out, looking at her daughter. "Admit it."

"I was sharing a room with Paris. I was so deep in crazy land they gave me honorary citizenship and my very own fruitcake."

"Did you bring it home?"

"Sorry, they took it from me at the airport." Rory smiled.

"What are your plans for the night, now that I've so generously sacrificed myself for your happiness and saved you from dinner? Making out with Jess until you're both blue from lack of oxygen?"

"Mom…" Rory looked out the window, trying to control the blushing.

"Yes, honey, I was making fun of you."

"It's good to know you're always so nice."

"Well, you did let them take the fruitcake away from you." The older woman grinned, looking at her daughter. "Is he meeting us at the festival?"

"I don't know." Rory shrugged, finally feeling composed enough to look back at Lorelai. "I mentioned our plans in my last letter, but since that was too late for him to write back I have no idea."

"Oh, ok. He was at the diner this morning, you can just go by later."

"It's Stars Hollow, it's not like he's going to be that hard to find."

"You excited?"

"Yes." She admitted, biting her lip at the same time. "And nervous."

"Butterflies nervous or nervous nervous?"

"Butterflies." Rory smiled.

"Aw, sweet."

"What, you're not going to mock that?"

"You want me to?"

"I expect you to."

"Give me a minute, I'm running low on caffeine." She grinned, picking up her paper cup and sipping from it. "Gah, cold coffee sucks." Pretending to think for a few seconds, she shook her head. "No, I still have nothing. I could call you Donna?"

"I'd appreciate it if you refrained."

"I'll get back to you later then. Jess is more of a Dylan than David anyway."

"I'll hold my breath waiting for your witty comebacks."

"I missed you, kid."

"I missed you too." Rory smiled.

* * *

"I cannot believe you actually changed." Lorelai snickered, trying to pull away a piece of cotton candy of the stick without getting her hands too messy.

"Seriously? Again?" Rory rolled her eyes, glaring at her mother.

"I'm just saying it's slightly ridiculous."

"And I'm saying I got it the first million times you expressed your opinion on this."

"He's seen you before."

"I know. He just hasn't seen me in a long time. I want to make a good impression."

"Oh, please, the boy's smitten already, Miss O'Reilly."

"Aren't you supposed to be leaving, Samantha?"

"Bored of me already?"

"No, tired of you." Rory laughed, shaking her head.

"You know, on second though, maybe you should come to dinner." Lorelai grinned, checking her watch. "Crap, I really should go. I'll tell the grandparents you said hello."

"You do that."

"I think Dylan's hanging out by the tree over there, run to him and forget all about me." She pointed at a tree and Rory glanced in that direction, blushing when she saw Jess watching them. "Have fun." She chuckled again, giving her daughter a quick hug.

"You too."

"With my parents?"

"Ok, try not to gauge your eyes out with a spoon then."

"How about if I use a fork?"

"Mmm…nope." Rory answered after pretending to think about it for a few seconds. "We have to have a movie marathon tonight, I haven't been able to watch anything in peace since I left."

"My poor child." Lorelai hugged her daughter, laughing. "Ok, seriously going now. Bye."

"Bye." As soon as her mother had left, Rory headed towards Jess, trying not to laugh when she saw his smirk.

"Hey." He greeted when she was near him, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hi." She smiled back, biting her lip. "How are you?"

"Not bad. You?"

"Excited to be back." Rory replied, still smiling as she took a small step towards him. "Good summer?"

"Boring. You?"

"Paris."

"Enough said." Jess smirked, taking his hands out of his pockets. Looking around her, Rory shrugged.

"Festival looks fun. Though I have to admit, I am curious if the band knows more than one song."

"Probably not, they've been singing it all day."

"Have you planned their deaths yet?"

"In many different ways, at least two including a chainsaw." He chuckled, running her fingers over her hand.

"Nothing with the cotton candy machine?"

"Give me five seconds, I'm sure I'll figure something out." Taking her hand, he smiled when she stepped next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"Hi." She whispered, biting her lip.

"You said that already."

"Sue me." Rory laughed as he cupped her face in his free hand before leaning in and placing a small kiss on her lips. "That works even better." She mumbled when he pulled back, hugging him tighter.

"I'm glad." Jess smirked before kissing her again.

"I missed that. You." She admitted as she tried to catch her breath, ignoring the looks that the townspeople were giving them.

"Huh."

"I didn't mean to…I…um…" She stammered, blushing.

"I missed you too." Jess shrugged, running his fingers through her hair as she blushed even harder, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Kissing her temple, he hugged her closer to him. "Can we go somewhere else now? Preferably somewhere very far away, so when Nat King Cole's ghost comes to kill the barbers we're out of reach."

"Let's go." Rory laughed, holding his hand tightly as they started heading towards the bridge. "About that bubble wrap thing…"

* * *

"Hey, is my kid around?" Lorelai asked as she walked in the diner, dropping her purse on the counter.

"Nope."

"I assume your nephew's also not here?"

"How did you know?" Luke grumbled, pouring coffee in a cup. "I can leave Caesar in charge and go find them."

"Nah, I'll flash the bat signal or something if she's not here in a bit."

"How was Friday night dinner?"

"Oh, you know. My mother found out Chris's girlfriend is pregnant. That was so much fun, let me tell you."

"I can imagine."

"No, you really can't. They somehow managed to bring up me not marrying him when I was pregnant and then it sort of went even more downhill from there. I think the maid did most of the talking during the actual dinner." Lifting a pink bag, she laughed, shaking her head. "But hey, scone mix."

"For you?"

"Apparently baking instructions are on the back."

"Have they met you?"

"My parents? Briefly." Dropping the bag on the counter, she picked up the coffee cup, holding it in both hands.

"How are you doing with the Chris thing?"

"Better." Lorelai shrugged, looking into his eyes. "I think I've reached the point where I'm honestly and truly happy for him. Oddly enough, my mother digging all that stuff up reminded me that there's a very good reason why Chris and I aren't together. Actually, more like a plethora of reasons."

"Good." Seeing her look at him, unsure how to take his comment, Luke grimaced. "I mean that you can be happy for him. You should be. I think."

"At ease." Lorelai laughed. "Everything will work out eventually. I just have to get used to hearing about how I missed my chance with him every week for the next few months and then I'll be fine."

"If there's anything I can do…" Luke smiled, trailing off.

"Thanks. You know, a doughnut might help. And some more coffee."

"You're going to die in ten years."

"But what a pretty body I'll leave behind." She smiled as Luke refilled her cup before picking up a doughnut.

"Hey, mom." Rory greeted, sitting next to her as Jess walked behind the counter, pouring Rory a cup of coffee.

"Now will you stop whining?" He smirked as he pushed the cup towards her.

"Maybe."

"What am I missing?" Lorelai chimed in the conversation but the two teens shook their heads, answering in unison.

"Nothing."

"Hey, mean! I need to know things, it's how I roll."

"Seriously, it's nothing." Rory reassured her mother before looking back at Jess. "You promised food as well."

"Impatient much?"

"I'm starving."

"We had food at the festival."

"Fries or I'll go ask the band to come in here for a special performance."

"Never gonna work."

"I can be very convincing when I have to." Rory laughed as he walked in the kitchen before looking back at her mother. "How was dinner?"

"Average." Lorelai shrugged. "We have scone mix."

"To do what with?"

"I suppose put it in a glass case and call it modern art."

"Works for me." Rory smiled. "The festival's still going on if you want to head back there for a while?"

"Nah, I'm good. What are we watching tonight?"

"Anything." Pushing a plate of fries in front of her, Jess smirked.

"Here. Happy?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"Great." He replied sarcastically. "Can the help sit down now?"

"Yes." She giggled as he walked back out, sitting next to her. "Sorry, mom. Anything you want to watch is fine with me, as long as we have enough Red Vines to make up for Paris outlawing them all summer."

"What?"

"I'll tell you all about it later."

"You've been holding back on the stories, haven't you?"

"Well, it's really hard to talk about the despot when she's in the room. The firing squad was on standby, I was going to risk it."

"Jess, can you help close down?" Luke walked back out of the kitchen, holding a couple of plates in his hands.

"Can I? Yes. Do I want to? Very, very debatable."

"Jess!"

"Going, uncle Luke." He shot back sarcastically before placing a quick kiss on Rory's cheek. "Books tomorrow or you're never getting coffee from me again."

"I'm terrified." She smiled before turning back to her mother. "Have you decided what we're watching?"

"Oh, now that Jess has work to do you pay attention to me again. I see."

"Be nice and I'll buy you more cotton candy."

"Promise?"

"Yes." Rory grinned, nodding before picking up her coffee cup and drinking from it. "So?"

"I have the pile of movies I started watching this summer but then didn't finish because I thought you'd like to see them as well."

"You really don't do well without me here, do you?"

"You figured that out now?" The older woman snickered after she finished her doughnut. "I'm ready when you are."

"Give me a minute." She scarfed down the fries before washing them down with coffee. "What? I learned everything I know from you." She answered her mother's questioning looks.

"I don't know if I should be proud or put us both in some sort of clinic."

"Be proud, it's easier."

"Works for me." Lorelai smiled, standing up. "Bye, Luke." She waved at the man and he nodded once as a goodbye.

"Bye."

"See you tomorrow." Rory smiled, placing a quick kiss on Jess's lips before catching up to her mother, waving goodbye to Luke as they headed out the door.


	21. Denial's not just a river

**A/N: This chapter's a bit more JJ, a bit less Lit. Review? Go on, you know you want to. Really, you do. I'll give you a cookie.**

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**Denial's not just a river**

"Hey." Rory grinned, sitting next to Jess on the couch in the diner apartment the following afternoon. Putting his book down, he cupped her face in his hand instead, moving in for a kiss. "I brought your books." She whispered when he pulled back, catching her breath.

"Huh." He mumbled, kissing her again.

"Stop doing that."

"Why?" Jess smirked.

"Because I need coffee and that's distracting."

"But not distracting enough to make you forget about coffee?"

"You're good, not magic."

"I'll take that as a challenge." He replied, trying to kiss her again but she backed away, laughing.

"One cup. Please?" Rory batted her eyelashes, smiling and Jess sighed loudly, trying not to smirk.

"I feel used."

"That's because you are." She giggled, standing up and taking his hands, pretending to pull him up. "No coffee, no books."

"I have plenty of books."

"One can never have enough books."

"I said plenty, not enough."

"Know what? I'm just going to go ask Luke. He's nicer." She laughed before letting go of him, starting to head towards the door but he caught up to her quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, stopping her.

"Wait."

"Why?"

"I'll get you coffee."

Turning around in his arms, Rory smiled, placing a small kiss on his lips. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He answered, kissing her again, one hand rested on the back of her neck. Hearing footsteps outside the door, the two teenagers quickly jumped apart, with Rory looking out the window, hoping Luke wouldn't notice her red cheeks.

"I just wanted to know if Rory was hungry." Luke mumbled as from the doorway and she shook her head, glancing at the man quickly.

"No. I'm good."

"Oh. Ok." He nodded quickly as he shut the door again and the two teenagers burst out laughing.

"Isn't it too early for his check-ups? I haven't been here for ten minutes."

"Maybe Kirk's downstairs." Jess shrugged, taking her hands in his, running his thumbs over her skin. "Should we just go to the bridge before he wears down the stairs from going up and down?"

"Yes." She nodded, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "I'll grab your books, you…"

"Get your coffee."

"Should I take the one you were reading as well?" Rory asked from the couch, picking up the book and looking at Jess, who was standing in front of the door, getting ready to walk outside.

"Nope."

"Too Russian to be read outdoors?"

"You're the one that justifies things in crazy ways. I've just reached my limit on Tolstoy for the day."

"Like there is such a thing." She mumbled before picking up the books she had brought for him, before following him down the stairs. Reaching the diner, she took a small step back when she saw her mother sitting at the counter, flipping through a magazine.

"I thought I'd left you at home." Rory laughed, sitting next to her.

"I got bored." Lorelai shrugged. "Sookie and Jackson are doing newlywed things…" She laughed when Rory grimaced. "…And there was nothing on TV. So I came here."

"You could have read your magazine at home."

"Ah, but here is the magic pot that holds Luke's coffee. I don't have that at home."

"You have coffee at home."

"If you're telling me I have to explain to you the difference between coffee and Luke's coffee, I will have to disown you."

"I don't know!" Jess raised his voice as he walked out of the kitchen, a sour look on his face. "Tell him to back off, will you?" He grumbled, looking at Lorelai as he picked up a couple of paper cups, filling them with coffee.

"I don't take sides."

"By that you do mean you don't take my side, right?"

"Maybe." Lorelai smiled at the teenager while Rory shot him a sympathetic look.

"Let's go." She stood up again, kissing her mother's cheek quickly. "I'll be home later."

"How much later?"

"Later." She rolled her eyes, waiting for Jess to join her. "Bye."

"Have fun." Lorelai waved at the teenagers as they headed for the door, Jess holding the coffee cups.

"Now do you believe me when I tell you there's something going on between them?" He smirked as soon as they were outside.

"There's nothing going on between them." She insisted stubbornly.

"Right. And your mother really couldn't have made it for a few more hours without Luke's coffee?"

"She once tried to write a sonnet for that coffee."

"Rory, come on."

"No. She hasn't told me anything so, until she does, I will stick to my conviction that they're just friends."

"Did you just admit that you're in denial?" Jess chuckled, sipping from one of the coffee cups.

"I…shut up." She shook her head, laughing as well. "Mom would have told me if they were dating. Or thinking of dating. Or anything that is more than them just being friends."

"Have you tried asking her?" He suggested, still smirking.

"No." She whispered, looking down at her feet. "If she's not thinking about it and I ask her, then she'll start thinking about it and then they'll start dating and break up. If she's already thinking about it then asking her won't do any good anyway."

"Aren't you the starry-eyed optimist?" He chuckled as they reached the bridge. Sitting down, Rory put the books next to her and grabbed her coffee cup from him.

"I don't want to see either of them get hurt."

"They're adults, they can deal with their own stuff." Jess shrugged, smirking.

"Yeah, I suppose." Placing a quick kiss on his lips, she smiled.

"Of course, them dating wouldn't be all bad."

"How's that?"

"They go out, we get to spend time alone without Luke checking up on us every five seconds." Jess pointed out.

"That sounds good." She admitted, biting her lip. "And they'd probably be more distracted…"

"And ease up on the surveillance."

"Ok, I'll give you that. But I'm still not convinced it's worth taking the risk." She grinned, kissing him. "You want your books now?"

* * *

Sitting on the couch next to her mother later that night, Rory picked up a couple of marshmallows from the table.

"What are we watching?"

"Nothing. I was waiting for you to get home and pick the movie." Looking at Rory, she smiled. "How was Jess?"

"Good. Read at the bridge for a while."

"In between making out sessions?"

Blushing, Rory looked away.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"So, how was the diner?"

"Not bad. I drove Luke crazy for a bit, had some pie, a lot of coffee. Usual." Lorelai laughed. "Gonna go call for food, you pick something to watch."

"Can you make some coffee as well?"

"Do you even have to ask?" She smiled, standing up. Following her mother in the kitchen a few minutes later, Rory leaned in the doorway, watching Lorelai pace around the room.

"Half an hour's fine, Pete. See you then." Putting the phone down, she smiled at Rory. "Pizza's on its way."

"I guessed."

"Is everything alright, kid?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded, biting her lip. "Actually…" Taking a deep breath, she tried to muster up the courage to ask what she wanted to know. "Mom, is there anything going on between you and Luke?" She asked quickly, the words mashing together.

"What?"

"You know, Luke? Works at the diner, wears flannel, a backwards…"

"I know who Luke is. What I didn't know was that you started seeing things. Has this been going on for long? Do I need to get you in a padded room?" She joked, filling a cup with coffee.

"Mom, I'm serious."

"No, you're on crack. Luke's…Luke. Why would you think there's something between us?"

"You're flirting with him, you're at the diner way more often than you used to be and I don't know…it just seem like there's something going on between you."

"I'm not flirting with him."

"You're always flirting with him. You're just way more Jessica Rabbit about it recently."

"Does that mean you think I should dye my hair red?"

"Don't change the subject."

"There is no subject. You've gone crazy. There's nothing going on."

"Would you tell me if there was?"

"Yes." Lorelai nodded. "Now promise me you'll say no next time they offer you the pipe. Knew I shouldn't have let you go to Washington."

Rolling her eyes, Rory shook her head, picking up two mugs from the cupboard.

* * *

Walking in the Independence kitchen Monday morning, Lorelai waved at Sookie, grabbing a mug. "Coffee?"

"Fresh pot."

"You are the greatest person ever." She grinned, filling her mug. "Good weekend?"

"Yeah. Did you and Rory have fun?"

"A lot of movies, junk food…the usual. It's so good to have her back." Lorelai sipped from the coffee, rolling her eyes, amused. "Oh, Rory thinks there's something going on between me and Luke."

"Is there?"

"What? You too?"

"Sweetie, you two have always been dancing around each other. Now you're single, he's single, you've both been like that for a while…" Seeing Lorelai's glare, Sookie lifted her arms in the air. "I'm just saying."

"God, I think the only other person who would find this ridiculous is Luke."

"Would he?" The other woman pointed out, picking up a couple of peaches. "What about peach cobbler for dessert? I think it would go really well with the rest of the menu."

"Sure." Lorelai answered absentmindedly. "You don't think he would?"

"Lorelai, he likes you. Everyone in town can tell you that. I've told you that before but you just won't listen."

"Luke doesn't like me. He tolerates me. Sort of." She looked down at her coffee mug.

"You're happy that he likes you." Sookie pointed out.

"I think my mother said that to me once. She was wrong as well."

"Fine, I'm wrong, your mother's wrong, Rory's wrong…" She smiled knowingly and Lorelai sighed.

"You are."

"Everyone is wrong but you?"

"Yes." She huffed, heading for the door.

"Would it really be so bad if you were dating Luke?" Sookie's voice stopped her and she turned around again to look at her best friend.

"What?"

"He's a really good guy that you already know you get along with. Not to mention he has a terrific butt. Why would it be such a horrible idea?"

"Because if we break up, I'd never be able to go to the diner and I'd starve to death."

Clasping her hands together, Sookie squealed.

"What now?"

"You said 'if'."

"Oh my God, suddenly I'm back in high school. I'm not even dating him and you're already thinking we're going to spend our lives together."

"Would _that _be so bad?" Sookie pointed out again, still grinning. "Because there aren't many men that are better than Luke."

"You've officially gone insane. I'm done with this conversation." Lorelai shook her head, heading for the door again.

"Just…think about it."

"Bye." She waved, not turning around before heading to the reception desk. "What?" She snapped, glaring at Michel.

"Nothing." The man sneered.

"Keep it that way."

* * *

Pulling back from Jess as she heard Luke's steps outside the door, Rory tried to catch her breath.

"I just…" Luke hesitated as he walked in the room, trying to find a good reason for his presence.

"Came to check up on us but you're going to make some ridiculous excuse?"

"We're out of milk." The man grumbled quickly before grabbing the carton out of the fridge. "How are you doing?"

"Just fine, uncle Luke." Jess cocked his eyebrows, smirking.

"Oh, ok. Good. That's good." He mumbled again before leaving the two alone again.

"Poor Luke." Rory giggled, resting her head on Jess' shoulder. "He's going to worry himself into a heart attack soon."

"Hey, if that's what it take for him to stop interrupting us…" Jess trailed off, kissing the top of her head as he draped his arm over her shoulder.

"By the way, I asked mom."

"What?"

"If she's dating him."

"And?"

"She said she's not, nor does she wants to be."

"You do know Santa Claus is not real, right?" He smirked, kissing her quickly as she glared at him.

"Until I get evidence to the contrary, I will believe her."

"If anyone offers you a bridge to buy…"

"Shut up and kiss me before Luke comes up here again."

"If you insist." Jess laughed before dipping in for another kiss.


	22. Luke Parade

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews.**

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* * *

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**Luke Parade**

"You know that thing I wasn't thinking about?" Lorelai sighed, leaning in the doorway to Rory's room a few days later.

"Hm?" Rory glanced at her, taking her headphones out of ears and putting her book down. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Changing her mind, Lorelai turned on her heels and walked to the kitchen, opening the fridge. Taking a deep breath, Rory followed her mother into the kitchen.

"Mom, what's up?"

"Nothing. I was just having a stroke or something. All better now." She put on a fake smile, picking up a water bottle and looking at it before returning it to the fridge. "What do you think, Al's for dinner?"

"You're on your own, I'm meeting Jess later."

"Did I know this?"

"I cleared it with you this morning."

"Was I in the room when you did?" Lorelai looked at her, slightly confused.

"Yes. You were sitting there…" She pointed at a chair. "…staring into the distance. It was after the twenty third time I asked you if you were ok."

"Weird. I have no recollection of this."

"Maybe that stroke affected your memory." Rory smiled, looking at Lorelai. "What's wrong?"

"You have to not freak out if I tell you."

"Did you get something pierced?"

"No." Lorelai shook her head, filling two mugs with coffee and motioning with her head at the table.

"Then?" Rory sat down, sighing.

"I think I may want to date Luke." She grimaced before banging her head on the table. "And it's all your fault. And Sookie's!" She mumbled, not looking up. "Seriously, why did you do this to me?"

"Ok, we're going to focus on the first half of that now. You can explain to me all about how this is my fault in a minute."

"Why? Can't you just whack me over the head with a baseball and make it stop?"

"I don't have a baseball bat."

"Maybe you should have kept dating Dean then. He's annoyingly athletic, he must have one you could have borrowed."

"You're avoiding the subject again."

"Trust me, my mouth may be, but my brain isn't." Lorelai sighed, lifting her head again. "Ever since you mentioned it, it's the freaking Luke parade in there." She pointed at her head.

"Mom…"

"Would it be so bad and he's such a great guy and he has a terrific butt and really, there aren't many men better than him!" She mimicked Sookie, frustrated.

"Ok, if you want me to still be part of this conversation, you will not mention his butt again."

"But…"

"Mom!" She made a face, closing her eyes.

"There was only one 't' in that." She argued before pausing for a second. "Thoughts?"

"On the issue at hand or in general? Because I'm thinking they should bring _Undeclared_ back, but I doubt that's what you want to talk about."

"_Freaks and Geeks _was better and I was hoping we could focus on Luke."

"What do you want me to say?"

"That you won't hate me if I go out with him."

"You'd have to try really hard for me to hate you." Rory shrugged, sipping from her coffee. "You're an adult, you can do anything you want."

"Come on, don't say that. You know I'm not going to do anything you'd be uncomfortable with."

"Didn't we have this talk about Max as well?"

"Rory…"

"Mom, I don't know, ok? He's Luke. Even ignoring the fact that he's my boyfriend's uncle, he's just…Luke. The thought of you two is weird."

"I know." Lorelai sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I don't want to risk ruining what you guys have or what him and I have but I can't get him out of my head and you should get that because you've been dating for a while and you know how guys just get…"

"Mom." She interrupted Lorelai, snickering.

"I suppose I don't want to not do this because I'm scared of how it might end." She admitted, letting out a breath.

"Ok."

"Ok, ok?"

"Yes." Rory nodded. "As long as you promise you'll be careful."

"Am I getting the birds and bees talk?" She laughed, more relaxed than before.

"Maybe if someone had done it sooner, you wouldn't have had me at sixteen." Rory giggled again. "Being serious for a second though…"

"I'll be careful."

"Not to hurt him either?"

"Rory…" Lorelai turned serious again and Rory shrugged.

"You don't have the best track record. And Luke has always been here for us. He doesn't…"

"Ok, kid, I got it."

"I don't want a repeat of the Max thing, that's all."

"This has gone south really, really fast." Lorelai shook her head as a look of hurt flashed over her face. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm talking about dating him, not marrying him."

"You can't honestly tell me you believe you can just casually date Luke. It's going to be serious from the get-go."

"No, but I can tell you I wanted to talk to you about this, not be made to feel like I'm this horrible person that only knows how to hurt men. Thanks." She stood up, taking a couple of steps around the kitchen.

"I didn't mean it like that." Rory sighed, standing up as well and walking to Lorelai.

"Great." She snapped again, shaking her head.

"Mom, I'm sorry." She pleaded slightly, trying to get a smile. "Let's go back to gushing about how you can't think of anything but him."

"Be on my side, Rory. There are plenty of people that are going to be waiting around for me to fail. I need you not to be one of them." Lorelai asked, still slightly upset.

"I am. Promise." Rory reassured her again, smiling. "From this point on, I'm your cheerleader."

"Borrowing Lane's pom-poms will definitely…" She softened up a little.

"In your dreams." She hugged Lorelai quickly, laughing. "And I think Luke could be the guy to make you very happy." She whispered before letting go and picking up her coffee cup.

"No more reservations? Because you haven't been very receptive to the idea in general."

"No more." Rory nodded, grinning, as she tried to bury her doubts. "But you're not allowed to marry him."

"What?"

"I don't care what else you do, but dating my cousin would be too are those banjos I hear playing? So I'm forbidding you right now because Jess and I got together first and telling you you may not marry Luke."

"Sounds fair." Lorelai chuckled as well. "Now tell me how I do this."

"Me? You're the expert!"

"I don't know how to go from friends to dating."

"Ask him out." Rory picked up her coffee cup again. "If you can dish out the advice, you can follow it."

"But…"

"But nothing." She smiled, checking her watch. "Though we'll have to postpone the rest of the gushing."

"Be home by eleven." Lorelai shot after Rory as she ran back to her bedroom, trying to get her shoes on.

"Thirty?" She smiled back, peaking her head from behind the door, holding a couple of shirts in her hands. "We were going to go to the movies…"

"Oh, to hell with it. Make it twelve. Have fun on your last week with no school. Oh, and definitely the red one."

"Thank you." Hiding behind the door again, she changed shirts quickly before stepping in the kitchen and kissing Lorelai's cheek quickly. "You should ask him tonight or tomorrow, it will give you something to look forward to when you see grandma tomorrow."

"Then she'll know I'm happy."

"But you dating a guy that she would not approve of will give you a great reason to giggle to yourself all night." Running her fingers through her hair, she spun around once. "Thoughts?"

"Lip gloss." She pointed out and Rory walked back to her room, starting to scour though her vanity. "Tonight?" Lorelai asked again, sighing.

"Or tomorrow. You'll over-think it if you don't and change your mind and then Sookie and I will have to talk you into it again."

"But…"

"You almost pushed me out the door to go ask Jess. I'm giving you the chance to do it on your own before I do the same." She laughed, walking back in the kitchen.

"Rory, come on."

"You either put up with the parade or just ask him and get it done with. Thoughts?" Rory pointed at her outfit.

"Perfect. Have fun."

"Ask him." Rory yelled as she headed out the back door. "Bye."

* * *

"We have an extra hour tonight." Rory smiled, placing a kiss on Jess' cheek. He cupped her face in his hand, kissing her.

"How'd that happen?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not at all." He kissed her again, moving closer to her. "Movie?"

"Oh, yeah. But don't let me talk to Luke."

"Why?"

"I'll explain on the way." She grinned, taking his hand, trying to pull him off the couch. "Go on, I don't want to be late."

"But it annoys Kirk."

"If we get there on time, you can throw popcorn at his head when he's not looking. That annoys him even more."

"Suppose that's fair." He smirked, finally standing up. As soon as they were out of the diner, he draped his arm over her shoulder, kissing her cheek as they started heading towards the movie theater. "What's the deal with Luke?"

"Mom's going to ask him out." She shrugged, cuddling closer to him.

"You're not happy with this?"

"It's going to take some getting used to." Rory looked at him, smiling. "But I'm done fighting it. She's going to do what she wants, independent of my objections. So given the choice of either accepting it or trying to stop it, I'm taking the easy way. And as long as they're happy and we get some more space to breathe, I'll be fine."

"I'm looking forward to the second part of that." Jess placed a kiss under her ear. "Leave them alone. It's their thing."

"I will."

Cocking an eyebrow, he looked at her skeptically.

"What? I really will!" She protested, laughing.

"Right." He smirked as they walked in the theater, handing Kirk a couple of bills before taking the couch.

"Kirk, what's on tonight?" Rory asked, looking at the man over her shoulder while Jess put his hand around her waist, making her slide closer to him on the couch.

"_Friday the Thirteenth Part Two_." Kirk replied, trying to untangle his sleeve from the projection machine. "If only…I could…it's just going to be a minute."

"Do you really care?" He whispered low enough for only her to her and she blushed, trying to glare at him.

"Of course I do."

"Huh." Leaning in, he kissed her, his fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. "Really?"

"Ok, maybe not care in the truest sense of the word…" She mumbled, making him smirk.

"Good to know."

After a few minutes, Rory pulled back, taking a deep breath. "Kirk, how's it going?" She looked back at the man, smiling.

"Any minute now." He replied, still trying to free himself.

"Need any help?"

"No. We strive to provide out customers with an unparalleled degree of excellency so please relax and enjoy your experience." He recited, only to have the machine almost fall on top of him as he reached the end.

"I'll go grab some popcorn." Rory kissed Jess' cheek before standing up. "Kirk, I'll leave the money on the desk." She smiled at the man as she walked past him.

"Please wait for me serve you. We strive to provide…"

"It's fine, Kirk." She interrupted the man's speech, grabbing one of the buckets from behind the desk. "We won't tell anyone." Sitting back down next to Jess, she put her head on his shoulder. "You've got to admit, having the cinema to ourselves is nice."

"One of the best things about living in the boonies."

"One of? Are you going to admit there's more than one good thing about Stars Hollow?"

"The bridge isn't bad either." He smirked, kissing her temple.

Walking to the front of the theater, his sleeve torn completely off his shoulder, Kirk nodded, pointing at the screen behind him.

"Are you ready to be scared? Made in 19…"

Picking up a few kernels of popcorn, Jess threw them at the man, an annoyed look on his face.

"Go away."

"But it's my job to…"

"Now." He grumbled again, eying the popcorn bucket intently and Kirk scrambled away, lowering the lights.

* * *

"Hey, Luke." Lorelai greeted, sitting down at the counter.

"Jess and Rory went to the movies."

"I know. I'm guessing Jess didn't tell you, but I gave Rory an extra hour tonight, so if they're late, she's still not past curfew. Whatever you and Jess have arranged is between you but…"

"Please, I'm lucky if he tells me he's going out. I've given up hope on knowing what he does and what time he's gonna be back."

"No change?"

"He's not stealing gnomes if he's with her, so I'd call that an improvement."

"That we know of." Lorelai smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That's not funny."

"I thought it was worth at least a cup of coffee."

Rolling his eyes, Luke picked up a mug from behind the counter, pushing it in front of her before filling it up. "How do you even sleep at night after this much caffeine?"

"Lie in bed, close my eyes. Same as everyone else I'd say."

"Do you want food?"

"Nah, I ordered from Al's."

"So you're here…"

"For coffee." She shrugged, biting her lip, repeating her speech in her head. "And I…uh…wanted to…" She hesitated, biting her lip, suddenly nervous.

"Yes?"

"See, I was talking to Rory and she…and then Sookie…"

"Lorelai?" He tried to cut off her rambling and she looked at him, taking a deep breath.


	23. Arm Twisting

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, guys.**

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**Arm Twisting **

Walking into the house later that night, Rory found her mother sitting on the couch, watching TV, an abandoned food container in front of her. Sitting next to Lorelai, she waited for her to speak.

"I chickened out." Lorelai sighed, looking at her daughter. "I was going to ask him, but he looked so worried that something could be wrong with me or you and I started thinking of all the ways this could go wrong and I'd end up not having him in my life any more so I just…got scared."

"It's ok." Rory smiled reassuringly.

"Ugh. I just sat there stammering. He must either think I'm an idiot or crazy."

"You're not an idiot and Luke, just like everyone else in the world, already knew you're crazy."

"Hey, that's my line."

"If the shoe fits." Rory giggled. "I think you're putting too much pressure on this."

"No kidding."

"I'm talking about the date. Just…ask him to hang out and then, if that goes well, ask him out for a real date."

"Oh, so now you're suggesting that I should ask him twice?"

"No. I'm suggesting that you should ask your friend to spend some time with you."

Pausing for a second to formulate a plan in her head, Lorelai smiled devilishly. "I have an idea."

"Oh, boy." Rory sighed, getting herself ready for what was about to follow.

* * *

"No." Jess shook his head the next day as Rory walked up to him, smiling innocently as her mother watched from her seat.

"What?"

"You've got your 'I want something' face on. Whatever it is, no."

"Oh, come on, you wouldn't do your girlfriend a teensy little favor?"

"No. Especially when she uses the word teensy." He smirked, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on her lips. "There is no way anything good could ever come out of this."

"Please." She drew out the word, pouting.

Rolling his eyes, Jess let out a breath. "What is it?" Seeing her expression change, he shook his head. "I am not promising anything. Tell me what it is, we'll see after."

Motioning for him to come closer, she looked around before deciding too many people were watching them. Grabbing his sleeve, she started pulling him towards the store room, ignoring the knowing looks she was getting from Miss Patty.

"Now I am seriously concerned, for the record." He smirked, his hands moving to her waist. Taking advantage of his distracted state, Rory kissed him, running her fingers through his hair.

"Remember us talking about how good it would be if mom and Luke started dating?" She asked between kisses, barely giving him a chance to catch his breath.

"I think that conversation didn't go exactly like that, but continue." He moved his thumbs under her shirt, running them over her skin slowly.

"See, she was going to ask him out last night."

"Ok." He mumbled as she kept kissing him.

"But she chickened out."

"And once again, ok." Jess smirked, pulling her closer to him, circling her waist with his arms.

"And we were thinking that it would be so much easier for her to do it if she had an in-built half excuse, half distraction, like, let's say, a movie night with the two of us there as well." She rambled quickly before covering his mouth with hers, not giving him a chance to reply. Pulling back, Jess cocked an eyebrow, looking at her.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"You think I will ever agree to a double date with your mother and my uncle?"

"It wouldn't technically be a double date since they're not dating."

"Not much better."

"Please, Jess."

"Know what? I'm going to stick by my initial assessment of this. No."

"Think of it as a long term investment."

"You can put a giant bow on it if you want, I'm still not buying it."

Biting her lip, she pressed her body closer to his, kissing the corner of his mouth. "You sure?"

"Subtle." He smirked, cupping her face in his hand, his fingers twirling a strand of her hair.

"I know, right?" She smiled again, placing more kisses on his lips. "It would be a one time thing and then they'll go out by themselves and we'll be able to stay in and watch movies and not have Kirk report our every single move back to Taylor."

"By watching movies you mean make out, right?" He chuckled, watching her blush.

"Pretty please?" She bit her lip, hugging him tightly. "It's one night."

"The benefits of this are seriously overshadowed by the whole idea of watching your mother flirt with Luke for hours while I'm trapped in the room."

"But think of how many brownie points you'll get with her."

"Believe it or not, I'm not really interested in earning point with your mother." He tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows.

"Fine, then let me point out one more thing, outside of all the other benefits. She says that if you do this, you don't have to come to any more movie nights."

"And you say…?"

"That we'll get a lot of time to ourselves, so you don't have to come to any more movie nights." She repeated herself, grinning before placing another quick kiss on his lips. "Please? It would mean a lot to both of us. And you want to see Luke happy, don't you?"

"Can I not answer that?"

"Fine, you want Luke to be happy enough to stop caring about what you do."

"You're annoyingly persuasive at time, you know that?" He smirked and her face lit up with a smile.

"Does that mean you'll do it?"

"Fine." He sighed, shaking his head. "I have a feeling I'll be very sorry, but I'll do it."

"Yay!" She yelped excitedly, kissing him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"So…" He drew out the word, rolling his eyes. "…going to regret this."

"No, you're not." Rory smiled again, placing more kisses on his lips before pulling herself away from his arms. "Now go back to work."

Shaking his head, Jess kissed her one more time before heading towards the diner, with Rory following behind. Nodding enthusiastically when she saw her mother, she sat back down at their table, picking up Lorelai's coffee cup and drinking from it.

"He said yes."

"Took you long enough to convince him."

"Mom, it took _you_ ages to talk_ me _into it."

"But boys should be easier to convince." She laughed suggestively and Rory grimaced.

"Don't even…"

"Fine."

"Now it's up to you to ask him. Remember, just hanging out, keeping an eye out on us."

"I don't suppose you could convince Jess to ask him, could you?"

"Mom."

"Or you! He likes you, he'd say yes."

"Keep this up and I'll have to remember something really important I have to do tomorrow night."

"Fine." Lorelai sighed, smiling. "Have lunch with me and then you and Jess can go off and I'll ask."

"If you back out, I'm never talking to you again."

* * *

"Do you need me to stay?" Jess asked, walking in the kitchen half an hour later. "Lunch crowd is gone, I've cleaned the tables, fresh coffee's in the pot."

"How many tables are left?"

"Lorelai's and a couple of tourists."

"Ok, go. Be back before the dinner crowd." Glancing at Jess from the pan he was cleaning, Luke smiled. "Thanks for the help. You want me to make you a burger or something to go?"

"Nah, I'll take a donut and some coffee."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Jess nodded, turning around to leave. "Bye."

"Bye, Jess."

Finishing cleaning up, Luke walked out of the kitchen a few minutes later, taking the coffee pot with him. After stopping by the first table, he headed for Lorelai's, pointing the pot at her mug.

"More?"

"Sure."

"Shouldn't you be at work?" He asked, looking at the woman.

"Slow day. I took the chance to spend some more time with Rory before she starts school. I'll head back in a bit."

"Ok. Is everything alright?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Last night…you sort of stormed out of here." He pointed out, sitting down in one of the empty chairs.

"I didn't storm out. I just had to go pick up my food."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She confirmed, nodding. "So how's Jess doing with everything? He seems…better."

"I think he is. At least you know, from what I can tell in the five minutes a day I actually see him. But he actually told me he was leaving today instead of just taking off, so I'd say that's an improvement."

"From what I've seen, he's calmer. One could almost mistake it for happiness." She laughed, pushing her hair behind her ears as she tried to muster up the courage to ask. "You don't have take my word for it. He's coming over to my house for a movie night tomorrow, you should come as well."

"What?"

"You could get some peace of mind and I'd have someone else there to watch them so that I could actually leave the room at times without risking their faces getting stuck together." Seeing the doubting look on his face, she smiled again. "Go on, come over. We'll get a ton of food that you won't even touch and a movie that will annoy you."

"I'm not sure…" He hesitated.

"Jess will hate it." She drew out the word as she finished her coffee.

"Fine." He gave in, nodding.

"Bring food, ok?" She grinned, standing up. "Jess knows the details, I'll see you tomorrow." She shot quickly before heading for the door, not giving him a chance to say anything more.

* * *

"Do you have any idea how big you owe me for making me agree that?" Jess sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind Rory's ear before kissing her again.

"Yes."

"I don't think you do."

"I'll make it up to you. Just…I want to do this for them."

"Why?"

"Because I want them to be happy and I feel bad that I've been less than supportive about this until now so giving them a helping hand seems like the right thing to do."

"That doesn't mean you don't…"

"Owe you. I know." She laughed, cupping his face in her hand before placing a small kiss on his lips. "Books?"

"To begin with." Jess smirked, his hand playing in her hair. "We'll negotiate the rest later."

"That sounds fun."

"Good to know." He kissed her again, still smirking.

"I should probably head back to the house and get ready for dinner." She whispered after a few minutes, trying to catch her breath.

"Bail."

"Jess, you know I can't."

"Yes, you can, Lorelai owes you. She can get you out."

"My grandmother will flip. I already missed dinner last week."

"Oh, fine." He let out an exaggerated sigh, smirking. "I know it's because you don't want to spend time with me."

"That's exactly it." She laughed, placing a kiss on his lips. Standing up, Jess extended his hand, helping her up before they started heading towards her house, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I'm excited about school starting."

"You're insane."

"It's our last year of high school. How can you be so blasé about it?"

"Quite easily."

"You're weird."

"Take a poll, I'm sure you'll find I'm in the majority here. I think only you and Paris are happy about crap like this."

"Ugh, don't make me think of Paris, I've had enough of her this summer."

"I've made school way less appealing, didn't I?"

"Only slightly." Rory laughed, kissing his cheek. "But the Franklin and new classes and college applications and everything!" She enthused. "It's exciting."

"I'll take your word for it. I'm waiting for it to be over so I can get out of here."

"Out?"

"What, you thought I was planning on sticking around after I graduated?"

"I…don't know what I thought." She lowered her head, a wave of sadness hitting her.

"It's ok, it's a long time away. We don't have to think about it." Jess tried to comfort her, leaning over and kissing her temple.

"Yeah, I suppose." Rory faked a smile, looking back at him. "I just…ugh, know what? Doesn't matter. You were right, we don't have to think about it yet."

"Good. Now what are my chances of changing my mind on tomorrow night?"

"No way."

"What if I'm seriously injured?" He smirked.

"I think then we'd have bigger problems than mom and Luke's not-date. And how are you getting hurt?"

"I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I was thinking something involving the sledgehammer and my foot."

"It doesn't count if it's self-inflicted."

"That's changing the rules midway."

"Tough." She laughed, moving slightly closer to him. "You'll tell me before you leave?" She whispered, biting her lip, looking into his eyes and he nodded.

"Yes."

"Promise."

"Rory…"

"Promise." She asked him again, her voice tense.

"I promise."


	24. Fun, fun, fun

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. **

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* * *

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**Fun, fun, fun**

Walking out of the bathroom on Saturday afternoon, Luke glanced at Jess who was laying in his bed, reading.

"You ready to go?"

Looking up from his book, Jess cocked an eyebrow.

"Lose the plaid."

"What?"

"Change your shirt, genius."

"Why?"

"Because something that you can't play chess on would be nice for once."

"Jess, we're going for dinner to Lorelai's house."

"Huh. You don't say."

"She didn't mention it was black tie."

"Ok, know what? Do whatever you want. I was trying to help." Standing up, he shoved his book in the back pocket of his jeans, looking at the door. "Let's go."

"Give me a minute." Luke sighed, turning around to look in his closet, making Jess smirk.

* * *

"Why did I decide this was a good idea?" Lorelai groaned, burying her face in her palms. "I can't do this."

"I've never seen you panic so much about a man. It's adorable."

"Rory, I swear if you don't stop mocking me and start helping instead, I am going to ground you. Or make you do dishes for a month. Or…whatever, but it's going to be mean and awful and I'm your mother and I can get away with it so tell me what to wear!"

"Jeans." She laughed, sitting up on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows. "Anything else would be too fancy."

"I hate being a girl, guys never stress about these things." Pulling a pair of jeans from the closet, Lorelai looked at the pile of clothes on the floor. "And blue t-shirt?"

"Yes. I'll make coffee and you can relax until they get here."

"Relax? That was funny."

"Mom, it's two friends hanging out. Nothing more."

"But once it's done, I have to ask him out and…"

"No, you don't." Standing up, Rory walked to her mother, smiling reassuringly. "You just have to have fun tonight. We'll figure everything else after."

"What if it sucks?"

"No harm done. It was the whole point of the not-date date. And it's not going to suck."

"Have I apologized enough to you for inviting Dean over when you two first started dating? Because I really feel like some self-flagellation is in order. Movie night are not supposed to be this complicated."

"It's fine."

"Really?"

"I have forgiven you. Sort of."

"And by that sort of you mean…?"

"I will secretly resent you forever and not invite you to my wedding to punish you for it."

"You've planned this."

"I had a lot of time to think about this. Now change." She tried to glare at Lorelai. "I'll be in the kitchen."

* * *

"Hey, guys." Lorelai greeted the two men, opening the door and trying not to laugh when she saw Jess' morose expression.

"Hey." Luke smiled back and Jess nodded. "We brought food."

"In that case, I suppose I can let you in." She smiled, stepping to the side. "Rory's in the kitchen, you can go drop it there." She smiled at Jess and he shrugged, walking past them towards the other room. "He's chipper today, isn't he?" Lorelai looked at Luke as they headed towards the living room.

"Oh, yeah."

Walking in the kitchen, Jess found Rory standing by the coffee machine. Making sure the adults weren't coming in the room, he cupped her face in his hand, pressing a kiss to her lips, hastily pushing the bag of food on the counter behind her.

"I hate you for making me do this." He mumbled, kissing her again.

"Think of the results."

"The only thing I can think of is how much better tonight would be if we were at the bridge instead of here."

"Tomorrow. All day. I promise."

"And I stupidly keep trusting you." Jess replied, smirking. Kissing him quickly, Rory put her hands on his chest, pushing him away.

"Now behave."

"Fine." He sighed, picking the bag up again and opening it, starting to pull the boxes out. Pouring two cups of coffee, Rory picked them up, looking at Jess.

"Coffee?"

"Can you spike it with cyanide?"

"I don't have any on hand, I'm sorry."

"In that case, a soda will do."

"Grab one from the fridge, I'll go take these to the living room." She smiled at him, kissing his cheek again quickly. "Thank you for tonight."

"You're welcome." He smirked, watching her leave the room before opening the fridge.

"Hey, Luke." Rory greeted as she walked in the living room, looking at the two adults sitting uncomfortably on the couch. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm…uh…I'm good."

"You sure? We actually have things for a change…"

"Hey!" Lorelai interrupted, protesting but Rory rolled her eyes.

"Really, mom?"

"There's always running water. What more could anyone want?"

"Unless we don't have glasses." She grinned, looking back at Luke. "Not even some water?"

"Water would be good, Rory. Thank you." He relented.

"I'll be right back." Walking into the kitchen again, she grabbed a bottle from the fridge, glaring at Jess. "You're still hiding."

"Can you blame me?"

"Get out there!" She put her free hand on his back, gently nudging him towards the door and Jess smirked.

"Pol Pot had nothing on you, I hope you realize that."

"Thanks." Rory replied sarcastically.

"Can I at least grab the food?"

"Fine." She sighed, waiting for him to take the boxes before tilting her head towards the door, raised eyebrows.

"Your daughter needs her own small country to run." Jess looked at Lorelai as he walked in the room, Rory following right behind him.

"You make me proud." She answered, grinning at Rory.

"Should have known." Jess rolled his eyes, picking a place on the floor to sit.

"Mom, did you order pizza?" Rory asked, sitting next to Jess.

"But we brought food." Luke furrowed his brow, confused.

"He's so cute." Rory laughed.

"This one_ I_ should have known." The man rolled his eyes, picking the phone from the table next to him and handing it to Lorelai. "Just listening to what you're getting on that is going to clog my arteries, isn't it?"

"We can get you a pizza with vegetables on it." Lorelai replied, both her and Rory grimacing at the same time. "As long as you're aware that you're going to be the only one eating it."

"Jess?"

"Be serious." The teenager shrugged, his finger running over Rory's leg as inconspicuously as possible as she tried not to blush.

"Don't worry then. I'll eat what I brought."

"Really, Luke, it's no trouble. Pete might call the police thinking we'd been taken hostage by health nuts, but I'm sure we can sort that out."

"I'm fine." Seeing her getting ready to open her mouth again, he smiled. "I'm sure. Contrary to your belief, most people don't need to eat twenty meals a day."

"Cray talk." She shrugged, starting to dial the number as she looked at Jess and Rory. "Everything?"

"Oh, yeah." The teenagers nodded.

* * *

"You ate the pizza!" Lorelai gloated victoriously again as she put the glasses in the sink, Luke bringing the empty box with him. "Our heart attack inducing pizza. You ate it!"

"I had a slice." He tried to defend himself, smiling at her amusement.

"Two!"

"Fine. Two slices." He admitted, looking at the door worriedly. "Should we go check on them?"

"They know the rules. Plus, if you try really hard, you can sort of hear some talking in between prolonged making out induced silences."

"You were right though. He does seem happier when she's here."

"I think he is." Lorelai shrugged, turning around to look at him. "I hope it sticks."

"Yeah, me too. Who knows, maybe Rory will even help him get his grades up this year."

"If I know Rory, I'm sure she'll try." Looking at the doorway, she smiled. "I'm going to go bring the rest of the glasses from the…"

"Don't worry, I'll do it."

In the meantime, outside.

Pressing Rory's back against the wall of the house, Jess looked around to make sure Babette wasn't spying on them from her windows before placing a hurried kiss on Rory's lips, his hands resting on her hips.

"That should be used as a torture technique."

"It wasn't that bad." She smiled, circling his neck with her arms. "Thank you."

"I know I say this a lot, but you owe me."

"Permanently indebted." Rory agreed. "I think it went well, what do you say?"

"I say they're adults and I only get fifteen minutes alone with you today, possibly less because Luke is in there, so I want to leave the psychoanalysis for some other time and enjoy them."

"Fine." She laughed, kissing him. "But just for a second…" She pulled back after a minute, making him roll his eyes.

"They both seemed to ease up after a while, so I'd say not bad. I think your mother has a very good opening to ask him out and she should take it, if only so my suffering won't have been for nothing. Also, Luke was going to say yes any time she asked, so it's a completely moot point and can I kiss you again now?"

"Yes, you can." She laughed just before his mouth found hers again.

Back inside.

"Thanks for the help." Lorelai smiled gratefully as Luke dropped the glasses next to the sink.

"No problem." He shrugged, checking his watch. "Thank you for having us over tonight."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was my pleasure."

"I had fun."

"And you even openly admitted that." She laughed, looking at him as he stood around, hands in his pockets. "Maybe we should do it again." She finally finished her thought after a few seconds, lowering her voice slightly.

"You like seeing Jess suffering that much?" Luke chuckled, shrugging one shoulder.

"Well, yeah. But I wasn't necessarily implying that they should be there." Lorelai replied rapidly, nervousness taking over.

"Oh." He mumbled in reply, unsure.

"I…figured we…uh…it'd be fun again? And fun is good." She suggested, grimacing. "I know Natacha Atlas says fun doesn't exist but who is she to have an opinion anyway, and I wanted to throw that out there as an option. You don't have to say yes or anything."

"Yeah, sure, it would be." He mumbled as well, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets. "We…can. Should. I'd like to."

"Next weekend maybe?"

"Sure." He agreed, nodding.

"We'll hash out the details."

"That sounds fine." Luke smiled and Lorelai smiled back, letting out a breath.

"Good."

"I should probably head back. I have an early delivery tomorrow."

"Ok. Send Rory back inside if you can pry them apart, will you?"

"Sure. I'll…see you around?"

"As long as you have the food, yeah, you will." She laughed, flipping her hair back. "Bye."

"Bye."

"I like the shirt, by the way." She added as he headed out the door, making him smile again.

* * *

Walking in the kitchen a couple of minutes later, Rory looked at Lorelai, noticing the grin on her face.

"You asked?"

"I asked!" Lorelai confirmed, giggling.

"And he said yes?"

"He said yes!"

"Yay!" Rory joined in the giggling, walking to her mother and giving her a quick hug. "Told you he would."

"No, you didn't."

"Oh, please, there was no way he wasn't going to. Even Jess thinks that." She laughed, picking up an empty mug. "Now tell me everything!"

* * *

Looking at Luke as they walked in silence to the diner, Jess took a breath, toying with a pack of cigarettes in his pocket.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Hm?" Luke glanced at him.

"You're smiling like you got a lap dance."

"Jess…" He sighed. "I had a good night. Don't ruin it." The older man shrugged, the smile still on his lips.

"Uh-huh. So she asked?"

"You know?"

"Please." Jess brushed it off, smirking.

"She asked." Luke confirmed, nodding.

"You do know it's a date, right? Not friends hanging out together or anything like that?"

"You do know I can make sure you have to work every hour you're not at school if you don't stop talking?"

"At least tell me you'll remember to wear…"

"Jess!" He glared at his nephew as they reached the diner.

"Just trying to help." Jess smirked, closing the door behind him.


	25. Nothing to Worry About

**A/N: I'm so, so sorry about the late update, guys. Life and all that.**

* * *

**Nothing to Worry About**

"Why are you standing outside?" Lane asked on Monday morning as she walked up to Lorelai and Rory.

"Mom's too chicken to go in the diner." Rory explained, rolling her eyes.

"Hey! We're standing because standing's good for you. Tones the legs. I saw it on Oprah."

"She's also in denial about her cowardice."

"This is about the date, right?"

"Does everyone know?" Lorelai sighed, exasperated. "Way to keep it a secret."

"Mom, Lane knows. That's it."

"She made me promise I wasn't going to tell anyone." Lane shrugged, smiling. "Even if I did, who could _I _tell?"

"Fine."

"Ok, know what? I'm going in. I'm bored, I'm hungry, I need coffee and school starts soon. I'll come by and get you when I'm done and then you can drive me to school."

"Ungrateful child! You can take the bus for all I care!" Lorelai called after Rory, who'd turned around, winking at Lane.

"Coming?"

"Sure. I have a list of albums that I need you to buy for me."

Catching up to the two girls after a few seconds of indecision, Lorelai pouted, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Do I at least look nice?"

"I'm not playing this any more. You've asked me that five times already." Rory shook her head, laughing before pushing the door to the diner open. Sitting at a table, Lorelai took a deep breath when she couldn't see Luke anywhere.

"So far, so good."

"Lane, what can I pick up for you? It won't be until tomorrow, my swearing in ceremony's this afternoon." Rory ignored her mother, focusing on her best friend instead.

"Don't worry, it's not like I don't have other things in my life… oh, wait. I don't." The other girl laughed, shaking her head. "Or like I've been waiting for you to start school again the entire summer."

"I will bring them tomorrow as early as I can. There will even be some really fast walking involved."

"Thank you. And you know I appreciate it, right?"

"Do you think he's avoiding me?" Lorelai interrupted, staring at the curtain.

"Mom, it's fine. He's probably busy with something."

"Go find Jess and ask him. And see if you can get us breakfast while you're at it."

"Ask Jess what?" The teenage boy smirked, putting three mugs on the table.

"If… uh… there's going to be any cherry pie later."

"I have no clue."

"Then asking you would have been of little use."

Rolling his eyes, he started pouring the coffee. "What do you want to eat?"

"Pancakes."

"Omelet."

"French toast."

"You're just trying to make my life harder, aren't you?" He smirked as the three rattled off their orders.

"Always."

"I'll be out in a minute with your food. Oh, and Lorelai? Luke's upstairs, on the phone with the bread guy."

Closing her eyes, she buried her face in her palms while the girls giggled.

"You're so cute." Rory ruffled her mother's hair, laughing even harder.

"I know I've made this point before, but you do remember I have grounding privileges, right?" Lorelai snickered, picking up her coffee cup. Before Rory could reply, Luke walked in the room, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw them. Smiling at him, Lorelai waved quickly and he walked up to their table, wringing his hands anxiously.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Morning, Luke." Rory chimed in after a few seconds of silence, trying not to laugh at the adults' discomfort and Jess's amused smirk.

"Hi." He greeted the girls as well and they exchanged an amused look. "Did Jess take your order?"

"Yes, he did."

"Good. That's good." After a few more seconds of silence, he pointed at the kitchen. "I'm gonna go check on your food." He shot off before hurrying away, making Rory and Lane burst out laughing again.

"One way ticket for the eternal humiliation express, please." Lorelai sighed, trying to covertly look after the man.

"Mom, it's going to fine." Rory tried to reassure her when she stopped laughing.

"Right, we can't have a conversation with the two of you here to act as buffer. Saturday night's gonna be interesting."

"It's going to be fine." She repeated, rolling her eyes. "Now stop it."

"'Cause it's that easy." She pouted.

"You still have to go discuss details with him, you remember that, right?"

"But… "

"If you don't do it now, you'll try to postpone it and then you'll end up avoiding the diner and he'll think something's wrong and then you'll panic even more about it and you'll never come back ever again." She sighed, drinking her coffee.

"Wow, ridiculous conclusions much?" Lorelai laughed, looking at her daughter who tilted her head to the side, rolling her eyes.

"Mom."

"Lane, back me up here!"

"Sorry, I'm with her." She smiled and Lorelai took a deep breath, standing up in the next move.

"Fine. I'll go talk to him now. Taking you out of my will after, I hope you realize."

"Go!"

"Never telling you anything ever again, you despot." She grumbled, passing by Jess on her way to the counter. Dropping their food on the table, Jess sat in the newly freed chair, kissing Rory's cheek quickly.

"What's she doing?"

"Talking about their date."

"Couldn't she have waited a few more days? Now he's going to drive me crazy with this."

"Believe it or not, your well-being isn't everyone's main concern all the time."

"Should be." He smirked.

"Hey, Luke… ?" Lorelai smiled, standing in front of the cash register. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure. Here or… ?"

"Store room?"

"Sure."

Closing the door behind him a minute later, making sure no one had seen them both walk in there, Luke walked to the center of the room.

"So… "

"So." Lorelai smiled, equally uncomfortable. "Luke, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. No hard feelings or anything."

"No, I want to." He tried to reassure her, still nervous.

"Good. So… ?"

"Seven o'clock?"

"Meet here or… ?"

"I'll pick you up." Luke smiled.

"I'll see you then. And before then 'cause you know, diner, food, keeping me alive." She paused for a second. "This will get less weird, right?" She laughed, shaking her head. "Don't answer. I should go have breakfast, I'm driving Rory to school and she's going to kill me if we're even a second late."

"Sure."

"Have a thirty second head start. That should throw them off." Lorelai smiled.

* * *

"Hey." Rory greeted Jess, walking in the diner apartment on Wednesday afternoon.

"Hi." He stood up, smirking as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "The uniform's back."

"It's been back for three days."

"Yes, but I didn't get a chance to show my enthusiasm until now." He placed a kiss on her lips as she blushed.

"I'm only here on a quick break while my food's getting ready, I have to go home and study." She changed the subject, trying to stop herself from biting her lip too hard.

"Shame." He laughed, tracing kisses down her jawline. "Any chance you can postpone studying for a couple of hours?"

"Nope. But if I get this done during the week, I can spend Saturday evening with you."

"I suppose I'll have to take that." He sighed, pulling her a bit closer to him before kissing her again.

"How's your schoolwork going?" Rory smiled, circling his neck with her arms.

"Fine."

"By fine you mean… ?"

"It's the first week anyway, there's nothing to do unless you go to your lunatic school."

"Jess… "

"As soon as there's any work to do, I will at least glance in its direction."

"Thank you." Her face brightening up, she kissed him. "I really appreciate it."

"If you were really interested in my academic achievements, you'd study with me." He cocked an eyebrow, smirking again.

"Only for you to spend all your time trying to distract me? Sure. That's going to happen."

"What if I promise I'll be very, very good?"

"Chances I'll believe that… ?" Rory laughed. "I should go downstairs, Luke's bound to barge in any minute."

"I'll come with you."

* * *

"He's making me work Saturday night." Jess groaned the next evening as Rory walked into the diner, shooting Luke an angry look.

"What? Why? Not fair." She pouted, kissing him quickly.

"Oh, I'm sure it has everything to do with wanting to make sure we're not left alone for a freaking minute." He grumbled again as Rory kept trying to pacify him, running her thumb over his hand slowly. "I thought the entire point of getting them together was so that we could have some time alone." He sighed, shaking his head. "Luke, I'm going on a break."

"You just had… "

"I don't give a damn." He shot back at the man, heading out of the diner with Rory. As soon as they reached the alley, he cupped her face in his hand, kissing her. "I am going to… "

"You're going to do nothing." Rory smiled, circling his waist with her arms and moving a bit closer to him. "I'll come over, steal a seat at the counter and keep you company all night. I'll even help out if you want."

"Ok, don't take this the wrong way, but that wasn't the way I'd planned on spending a Saturday night."

"How did you plan on spending it then?"

"Somewhere where I could kiss you without having this entire freaking insane asylum glare at me like I'm about to take a flame thrower to the Mona Lisa."

"You're exaggerating." She giggled, kissing him softly. "I'll talk to mom and see if she can do anything about it."

"Don't bother. She's definitely going to support Luke's idiocy. Or what, you think she's going to be a big fan of us being left alone?"

"Jess, mom trusts me. She knows I won't… " Blushing, she didn't finish her thought and Jess smirked, his anger replaced by amusement.

"Won't what?"

Biting her lip, Rory blushed even harder. "Do anything to break that trust."

"I don't think _you_'re the problem here." He chuckled, kissing her.

"It will get better with time."

"What if it doesn't and I have to work in that freaking diner every night from now 'till the apocalypse?"

"Then I will be there to keep you company until the horsemen tear it down."

"And join me in the store room on breaks?" He whispered in her ear, smirking. "I need something to look forward to so I don't blow my brains out."

"I do prefer you alive." She smiled, hugging him closer before kissing him again.

* * *

"Luke's making Jess work on Saturday night." Rory said as she walked in the living room, holding the take away bag in her hand. "Did you know anything about this?"

"What?" Lorelai looked at her daughter, confused.

"Just wondering if it was your idea so that we're not left alone."

"Definitely not." She lifted her hands in the air defensively.

"You do know we don't need supervision at all times, right?"

"I know you don't. Jess, I'm not so sure about."

"Mom."

"I was joking." Lorelai smiled, looking at her daughter. "But I like the reassurance that I don't have anything to worry about."

"You don't."

"You'll tell me if there ever is something?"

"Yes. As long as you talk to Luke and tell him to take it easy."

"Do I have to?"

"Please." Rory smiled.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelai pushed her hair behind her ears. "Do you want me to try and get him to change his mind for this Saturday as well or should I keep it for any possible future events like this?"

"Just in the future, it's probably too late to do anything about it now."

"Fine. I will." Eying the Al's bag, she sighed dramatically. "Now do I get food?"

"Yes, you do." Rory laughed, handing her a container.

"Finally!" A couple of minutes later, Lorelai looked up from her food, taking the plastic fork out of her mouth. "Rory?"

"Hm?" The teenager turned to look at her mother again.

"If this thing between me and Luke works out, you and Jess are probably going to get quite a lot of evenings to yourselves, without anyone to check up on you and stuff."

"I know."

"Do I really have nothing to worry about?"

"Promise." Rory reassured her, smiling.

"Thanks."


	26. Tiny Elephant

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews.**

* * *

**Tiny Elephant**

"How busy are you?" Lorelai asked, peaking her head in Rory's room on Saturday morning.

"Why?" The teenager looked up from her notebook, holding a pen in her hand.

"I have nothing to wear tonight."

"You're having a clothing crisis at 9 in the morning? That's impressive." She smiled, glancing at her books. "Give me an hour and then I can come help."

"I don't need help, I need to go shopping."

"I'm still gonna need an hour."

"You don't need an education!" Lorelai laughed, pouting at the same time. "You study too much, come shopping with mommy."

"Mom, go have coffee, eat something and I'll be with you as soon as my article is done."

"Ah! You lied! You're not even doing homework, it's for the Franklin, it doesn't count."

"So you're saying you're going to go call Paris and tell her my article isn't going to be done on time because of you? Thank you, that's very nice."

"Fine, I'll see you in an hour."

"Good girl."

* * *

"Two coffees to go, please." Rory breath out, almost crashing into the counter.

"What's the rush?" Jess asked, picking up two paper cups at the same time.

"Mom's waiting in the car."

"Why?"

"Because she won't come in." She lowered her voice, rolling her eyes at the same time.

"Did I leave the force field on again?" He smirked, starting to pour coffee in one of the cups.

"Nope, she's just nervous about tonight and doesn't want to see Luke so she's purposely staying away."

"Your mother is insane."

"Hey!"

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow, smirking. "You disagree?"

"Not necessarily, but you're not allowed to call her that."

"I apologize in that case." He chuckled, shaking his head before handing her the two cups. "Here you go."

"Thank you!" Leaning over the counter, she kissed him quickly. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

"Not bad." Jess smirked as Luke walked out in the kitchen later that day, fixing his shirt collar nervously.

"You sure?"

"What am I, your fairy godmother? Find a mirror and stare at yourself if you need reassurance."

"Thanks." Luke replied sarcastically, before walking to the mirror, checking out his hair.

"Jeez, man, I was joking. You look fine." Jess rolled his eyes, still smirking. "Where are you taking her?"

"Just…a place I know." Luke smiled to himself, running his fingers through his hair. "Rory's coming over tonight?"

"She's gonna hang out while I work."

"Don't burn the diner down." Luke warned as he grabbed his jacket.

"I'll try not to."

* * *

"Why am I so nervous?" Lorelai whined as she looked at her hand, mascara brush shaking between her fingers.

"Because you like Luke."

"Yes. But I've been on dates with men I liked before. In fact, I make it a habit to only date men I like."

"And Rune." Rory pointed out, looking up from her book.

"Thanks for bringing up that painful memory." She grimaced.

"Any time."

"The point I was trying to make before you decided to be so helpful, is that I shouldn't be nervous. It's a date."

"Yes, it is."

"And he's a friend, so it's not like we won't have anything to talk about."

"No, it's not." Rory answered again, reading at the same time.

"Except for the fact that we do see each other pretty much every day and I'm sure we must have exhausted every single topic there is so we'll sit there staring at each other."

"No, you haven't."

"You sure?"

Putting her book down again, Rory took a deep breath, trying not to roll her eyes. "Yes. You're going to have a really great night and all of this fretting will have been for nothing. Now stop it and put on your makeup, since Luke will be here any minute and I really don't want to run interference for you." Seeing her mother open her mouth, trying to protest, she lifted her finger. "No more talking. Makeup, clothes, Luke."

"Fine." Lorelai pouted, picking up her lipstick. A while later, she stood in front of Rory, fully dressed. "So?"

"I think you look great."

"Really? Because I'm not so sure about the dress any more."

"You tried on thirty two different outfits and we both agreed that this was the best one." Rory smiled, standing up. "You look great. Please don't change again, Luke's going to…" She was interrupted by a car pulling up in their driveway. "Good timing. Go and have a fabulous time."

"You'll be home when I get back?"

"Probably, I'll help Jess close up around 10 and then come here."

"After some making out."

"You're the one with an official date, I don't think I'll be the only one." Rory answered, despite blushing at her mother's comment.

"Should I kiss him? Is there some rule on these things?"

"First, I'm not Dr. Ruth and second, ew." She grimaced. "Do whatever feels right to you. This is all I'm going to say on the matter."

Hearing a knock on the door, Lorelai smiled, taking a deep breath. "I should go."

"Relax." She urged her mother, giggling.

"Like that's possible." Waving at Rory quickly, she headed down the stairs, clutching her purse strap in her hand. Opening the door, she smiled at Luke, unaware that she was holding her breath.

"Hi." Luke smiled, clenching his fists, trying to stop himself from shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Should we…?" She asked after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

"Go. Yes. Let's go." He mumbled.

"I'm not dressed inappropriately or anything, am I? Because I had no idea what I should wear since I don't know where we're going to I had to wing it a bit." Lorelai rambled as soon as they were in the car, putting her seat belt on.

"Just dinner." Luke smiled, shrugging. "Your dress is fine."

"You sure do know how to woo a girl, don't you?" She laughed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…uh…I…" He hesitated before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "You look beautiful."

"Aw, thank you." Lorelai smiled. "You clean up nicely too." She replied, trying to keep the mood light.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Hey." Jess greeted Rory as she walked in the diner later that evening, a plate in his hand. "Give me a second."

"Sure." She smiled before finding a seat at the counter, watching him as he took another order before pushing the piece of paper through the kitchen window.

"Caesar, two burgers with fries." Turning back at Rory, he leaned over the counter, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Hi."

"Busy?"

"Sort of."

"Need help?"

"You volunteering or just inquiring?"

"Volunteering." Rory shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."

Taking his order pad out of his pocket, he smirked, throwing it at her. "Have at it."

"I will require payment in food and coffee, you know that, right?"

"I guessed." Pulling a cup from behind the counter, he pushed it in front of her. "This is yours. Help out and you can refill it yourself as often as you want. No questions asked."

"What about the food?"

"Hey, you have the order pad, I can't stop you." He winked, leaning closer to her again. "Deal?"

"Deal." Rory laughed, kissing him gently before standing up and heading for a table.

* * *

"How bad is the urge to call Rory and check up on her?" Luke asked Lorelai as soon as the waitress had dropped their food on the table.

"Just a bit." She admitted, laughing at her silliness. "I know they're supposed to be in the diner and I technically have nothing to worry about, but they're still alone. How are you with wanting to call Jess?"

"More than a bit." He chuckled as well.

"I'm not sure if I should feel pathetic or embrace the reality of being responsible for a teenager."

"Both?" He offered and Lorelai smiled.

"Suppose that'll have to do." Looking at him, she bit her lip. "Should we stop thinking about them and hope they're not running away to Mexico and enjoy our night instead?"

"I think that sounds like a really good plan."

* * *

"Oh, my god, how do you do this every day?" Rory sighed when they finished cleaning up the diner, collapsing in a chair.

"Used to it." Jess smiled, walking out of the kitchen and handing her a slice of pie. "Here."

"You're a mind reader." She laughed, grabbing a fork. "Thanks."

"Any time. Thanks for the help." He refilled both their mugs, deciding to leave the empty pot for Luke to deal with before sitting down in the chair next to her.

"I wonder how they're doing." Rory mused, looking at the pie.

"We finally get to be alone for a few minutes and you decide to occupy your mind with that? I must admit, I'm slightly hurt."

"Aw, I'm sorry." Setting her fork down, she leaned closer, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "Better?"

"Try harder."

Smiling, she kissed him again, this time more passionately. "What about now?"

"Getting there." Jess smirked, his hands moving slightly up her legs before his mouth found hers again.

* * *

"Should we bring up the elephant in the room?" Lorelai asked, looking at her empty dessert plate.

"What elephant?"

"I had a really great time tonight."

"So did I." Luke shrugged, smiling. "Is that a problem?"

"A small one. Like one of those really tiny elephants…what are they called? It's p something or the other…" She trailed off, a pensive look on her face. "I'll ask Rory when I get home, she must know."

"Lorelai?" He nudged her back into the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. We both had fun. And, in general, when people have fun on dates, they want to do it again."

"So?"

"So we need to talk about it because this…" She motioned between the two of them, starting to talk even faster. "…really can't be a casual dating thing, since we have Rory and Jess to think about and the town will go mad and there are a lot of implications to everything we do."

"I know that."

"And you're good with it?"

"Of course I am." Luke replied without thinking about it. "I mean…" Letting out a breath, he looked into her eyes. "Lorelai, I don't casually date anyone and if I did something tonight to imply that that's what I want with you…"

"You didn't." She reassured him. "I was…I don't know. Wanted to lay the cards on the table. Dirty." Lorelai giggled, making him chuckle as well. "I'm happy you're fine with it." She added, serious again.

"I happy _you_ are."

"I'd take insult to that, but I suppose I've earned it." She smiled, lifting her glass and waiting for him to do the same. "To…?"

"Being fine with it?"

"I like that." After clinking the glasses together, they sipped from them, unconsciously leaning towards each other. Closing her eyes, Lorelai smiled when he kissed her, putting her glass back on the table at the same time. "I really like _that_." Chuckling, he kissed her again.

* * *

Tiptoeing in the living room, trying to keep quiet, Lorelai jumped, startled, when she saw someone moving on the couch.

"Mom?" Rory asked, sitting up, yawning.

"Sh, babe, just me. Go back to sleep."

"How'd it go?"

"It was great."

"How great?"

"Really, really great. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Try and stop me." Lorelai confirmed, nodding, smiling again. Standing up, Rory picked up her book and walked to her mother, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad you had fun. Good night."

"Night, sweets."

Turning around when she was halfway to her room, Rory smiled playfully, digging in her jeans pocket. "Mom?"

"Hm?"

"Here, you look like you need this." And in one move, she threw her mother a tube of chap stick before heading for her bedroom again.


	27. Problem?

**A/N: So, you know how I wasn't updating until I was done with exams? Turns out writing is *great* procrastination from studying. You may all kick my ass now. Anyway, thank you for the reviews and enjoy (oh, and wish me luck. My first exam is in 10 hours and the feelings of dread and incoming failure are here).**

* * *

**Problem?**

"I still cannot believe Luke has a _Luke's_." Rory mused as she and Lorelai sat down at their kitchen table the next morning, having coffee.

"Tell me about it. You'd think I would have managed to extract that information out of him at some point in the past five years."

"I think your powers may be weaker than originally thought."

"Hey!" Lorelai protested, pouting.

"Sorry, too late. I'm never trusting you for gossip ever again if you managed to miss something so big."

"I can still tell when you're not telling me something, so I'm not completely useless."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself." Rory smiled, standing up. "I'm supposed to be meeting Jess at the bridge in a bit, you'll be…"

"At the inn. Michel beckoned."

"Mom, you should have said something. Coffee could have waited."

"And waste a chance to drive Michel crazy? Never!" She laughed, pulling herself up as well. "I'll probably have lunch there, you'll…"

"Grab a burger on the way to the movie." Rory interrupted this time.

"Meet for dinner?"

"Pizza?"

"Chinese?"

"Come pick me up from the diner and we'll decide then." Rory smiled, kissing her mother's cheek quickly. "Bye."

"Don't forget to come up for air once in a while!" Lorelai called after her daughter, laughing.

* * *

"You and your mother owe me. For life." Jess sighed, sitting on the bridge next to Rory, an exasperated look on his face.

"What's up?" She put her book down, looking at him.

"He's humming." He sighed, throwing his head back slightly. "All freaking morning long. I swear one of us is going to be dead by the end of the day."

"Aw, I think it's cute." Rory smiled.

"That's because you're not the one that has to live with him." Jess pointed out. Leaning over, she placed a kiss on his lips, running her fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry."

"You think your mother would have a problem me crashing on your couch for a while?"

"Probably."

"Damn." Pulling her closer, he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm guessing you're going to object to me hiding in your room, right?"

Blushing, she bit her lip, avoiding his eyes. "Yes."

"Shame." Jess smirked, kissing her. "We have…" He checked his watch quickly, smirking. "An hour and a half until the movie begins. Any plans that I don't know of?"

"Nope."

"So we can spend the time by you making up some of your debt for my contribution to that mess?"

Rory nodded, blushing again. "It's not a mess."

"Whatever." He smirked, moving one hand to her leg before kissing her again.

"It's not!" She protested again, giggling.

"Rory?" Jess cocked an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"I still say it's not a mess." She mumbled against his mouth a few seconds later, making him laugh again.

* * *

"From now on, I get to pick the movies." Jess sighed, sitting on the couch in the diner apartment. "That was…"

"Please, like you watched even half of it."

"And you did?" He smirked at her reply, amused when she started blushing. "Is there anything that doesn't make you turn red?"

"Plenty of things." She glared, pulling away from him.

"Huh." Jess slid closer. "I don't seem to be able to find any of them." He chuckled, putting his arms on either side of her, realizing they're reached the edge of the couch.

"Maybe you should try harder."

"Nah, I'll pass. It's much more entertaining this way."

"For you, maybe."

Leaning closer, Jess kissed her, pressing her back into the couch even more. "So you're not entertained enough? Because I'm sure I can come up with something better."

"Like?" She teased, licking his bottom lip.

"Depends how far you'll let me go." He acquiesced, glancing down at his hand in its usual place on her waist.

"Not that far." She mumbled, her cheeks turning bright red once again.

"Shame." He replied again, smirking. "Can I ask for exact limits on this 'not that far' business or should I wait until you kick me away if I make you uncomfortable?"

"You want some sort of map?" She tried to joke despite her embarrassment.

"It would be helpful." Pulling back, he pretended to draw a line from her left side to her right. "None shall pass."

Giggling, she shook her head. "I don't know what the limits are. Nothing too…"

"Got it." He replied when she didn't finish her sentence, nodding. "I suppose it would be bad of me to inquire if there's any leeway there? Or the possibility of some with time?"

"I don't know." Rory shrugged. "Is that a problem?"

"No." Jess shook his head. "Did you think it was going to be?"

"I…sort of…figured…yeah." She admitted honestly. "You're…you." She tried to keep calm, despite feeling her cheeks burning. "Past evidence shows that you're not exactly a fan of playing by the rules."

"That was different. Or actually this is." He looked at her. Smiling at his words, she moved close to him again, kissing him softly.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Understanding, I suppose."

"Any time." Jess smiled back, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Can I ask you something, now that we're having this conversation?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded and he took a deep breath, his fingers lingering on her cheek.

"Did you and Dean ever…you know what I mean?" He tried to avoid any words that would make her too uncomfortable. "You don't have to answer." He added quickly when he noticed her lip biting had suddenly started again.

"No, I…suppose it concerns you as well in some way."

"It's mostly curiosity." Jess smirked, moving his fingers in her hair.

"We didn't." She mumbled, the words smashed together, making it sound like just one.

"Ok." He nodded again, kissing her softly. "Thanks for telling me. Curiosity did kill the cat and all that." He chuckled, trying to get her to relax.

"Is _that_ a problem?" She asked again, forcing a smile, making him smile again.

"No."

"Have you?" She asked the question that was bugging her. "With whatever girl you've ever dated, since I don't know anything about that part of your life. Or most parts now that I think about it but that's not the point of this conversation and I get why you'd be apprehensive about talking about it. Or think I get it anyway."

"Yes." He admitted, a slight movement of his shoulder. "Is that a problem?" He borrowed her question, still smiling.

"No." Rory shook her head.

"You sure?" He asked again.

"Yes." She kissed him as he moved his hand to cup her face. "Just wanted to know."

"Ok." He nodded.

"Can we be done talking about this now?"

"While your toes still haven't died from lack of blood, as all of it is in your cheeks? Yes." Jess laughed, kissing her red cheeks. "Although since your blushing was what started the conversation, I'm not sure how much it's going to help."

"So funny." Rory giggled. Noticing his watch, she tilted her head towards it. "We've been here almost fifteen minutes and Luke still hasn't checked in on us."

"We may be finally starting to see those perks you kept mentioning to me." He smirked before kissing her again.

"I really do hope so." She smiled, her hands starting to play in his hair.

* * *

"I believe my daughter is somewhere upstairs attached to your nephew?" Lorelai laughed, walking in the diner later that afternoon. "Or that was the plan anyway last I heard."

"They're up there." Luke nodded. "Jess came down for coffee about 5 minutes ago."

"In my day, it was always a cigarette after." She joked before seeing Luke's shocked expression. "I was kidding."

"Geez, Lorelai, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry." She drew out the word. "Hey, about the thing that I was going to borrow from you…?"

"Thing?" Luke asked, confused.

"You know, we talked about it yesterday." She tried to wink subtly and he caught on. "Can I get it now?"

"Sure. I'll come with you upstairs."

"Great. More people to walk in on Jess and Rory." She exclaimed happily.

"Caesar, going upstairs for a minute." He called before motioning with his head for the curtain, waiting for Lorelai to go first. As soon as they were in the privacy of the corridor, Luke caught her hand, pulling her body towards his and kissing her in the next move.

"Mm, Luke…" She whispered against his mouth, her free arm circling his neck. "Nice."

"I guessed your sudden need to borrow my thing…"

"Dirty!" She interrupted, laughing. "And yes, you guessed right." She kissed him again.

"Plus, that shirt looks very good on you."

"Compliment paying Luke. So much better than anything Mattel can come up with."

Smiling, he pressed his mouth to hers again, hungrily.

"I must say, I'm suddenly wondering what the hell took us this long." She smiled, trying to catch her breath a few seconds later.

"I'm sure i can think of a few reasons."

"Mainly stupidity." Lorelai laughed. "We still need to talk about what and when we're going to tell…them." She pointed with her head at the curtain.

"I don't care."

"At all?"

"Whatever you want to do is fine by me." Luke shrugged.

"Can we keep it between us for a while and then see how we feel? Well, us, Rory and Jess. And Sookie. Got to tell Sookie."

"Yes." Luke snickered, moving his hand to her waist.

"Good." She breathed a sigh of relief. "You can tell someone if you want."

"I'm ok."

"I don't know how long it's going to take before I'm comfortable going…public, if you want. Are you still sure that's not a problem?"

"Lorelai, I already said…"

"Yeah, I know, just stating the terms clearly, so you know what you're getting into."

"Still fine." Luke nodded. "Can't say I'm looking forward to whatever they'll do when they figure it out."

"I hope they'll throw us a party. I mean, what other way to celebrate this?"

"Could think of a few." He smiled, pulling her bottom lip between his, hand roaming over the small of her back.

"Hold on to that thought." Lorelai replied, pressing her body harder against his.

"Trust me, I will." He kissed her again.

A few more minutes later, she took a deep breath, pulling away from him in one sudden move. "Three, two, one, calm." She laughed, fixing the hemline of her shirt. "You need to not do that because you're distracting me and I'm starving and Rory's waiting." She rambled, making him smile.

"There's food two feet in that direction." He looked at the wall separating the hallway from the kitchen.

"Yes. And while I'm sure Jess is more than happy making sure Rory doesn't get too bored, I'd really like to check on them now."

"Yeah, it's about time." Luke checked his watch, waiting for her to step ahead of him on the stairs before he followed. Bursting into the diner apartment, Lorelai found the teenagers sitting at the kitchen table, focused on their books, two now empty cups of coffee besides them.

"Hmpf." Lorelai pouted. "Here I was in full raging mother mode and you're being good."

"If only the same was true about you two." Jess smirked, pointing at Luke's dishevelled collar and Lorelai's smudged lipstick. "Nice."

Suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed, Lorelai glared at him. "Keep your comments to yourself, hoodlum. Rory, ready to go?"

"Sure." The teenage girl closed her books, brushing her hand past Jess's in the process before standing up. She waved at him and he gave her a quick nod before turning around. "Bye, Luke."

"Bye."

Waiting for her mother to leave the room, after a quick wave to Luke, she followed, stopping Lorelai before she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Lipstick. Seriously."

"That bad?"

"Let's just say there would no unsuspicious way of explaining it."

"Decided to become a clown?" Lorelai pulled a mirror quickly, wiping the smudges before checking her hair. "All good, let's go."

"After you." Rory smiled as they both walked back in the diner.


	28. As You Wish, Comrade Gilmore

**A/N: Back, my lovelies. I've had an interesting couple of weeks and I sort burned out on writing (good interesting, no worries). Fear not, for I am back. Regular updates from now? Oh yes, there will be. Cookies for reviews. And homemade cheesecake. All sorts of baked goods. Watram, hun, this is for you since you asked for Jess and Rory studying. **

* * *

******As You Wish, Comrade Gilmore**

"Hi." Rory smiled, walking in the diner apartment, holding her backpack. "Luke said it's ok to come up."

"I don't mind. Trust me." Jess replied with a grin, resting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer. "Hey." Pulling her bottom lip between his teeth, he smirked, trying to get her closer but she pulled back, pushing him away with her free hand.

"I'm here to study."

"So am I."

"For school!" She lifted her bag, smiling.

"Oh. That puts a damper on things."

Rolling her eyes, Rory placed a quick kiss on his cheek before putting her backpack on a chair. "Where are your books?"

"Somewhere. Hey, you don't have coffee. Let me go get you some."

"You're not allowed to procrastinate."

"You don't want coffee?"

"Not what I said but…"

"So what's the problem? I can make you a burger as well."

"Luke's bringing me food and you're not getting out of this."

"Damn. How about…"

Pointing at the table, Rory lifted an eyebrow. "Homework."

"You're in your dictator mood."

"Yes, I am. And you're going to do your work even if I have to kill you."

"No standing behind me with a stick? Because I might…"

"Jess!" She called again, this time slightly blushing.

"Fine, I'll go bring my books."

"Your school books."

"Fine." He smirked, watching her as she took a seat and started unpacking her things before digging a book out of his jacket.

"You're doing Tom Robbins in class? Maybe I should switch back." Rory rolled her eyes again.

"I was reading it in class, that should count for something, shouldn't it?"

"No. Now get your actual work out or I'm leaving and, given how much stuff I have to do, you won't see me until the weekend."

"You're not gonna play nice, are you?"

"Jess." She smiled, staring intently at her books.

"Fine, but this weekend, I get to pick what we're doing. And trust me, we won't be studying." He smirked, grabbing a text book from a corner of the room and throwing it on the table before pulling the chair next to hers.

"Nope. Over there." She stopped him, pointing at the one across from her.

"Seriously?" Jess tilted his head to the side, incredulously and she nodded.

"I did mean it when I said study."

"I'm really not sure what I think about you anymore."

"I don't care, as long as your work gets done and we get to spend some time together."

"Nice to know your interests are not purely academic. I was getting worried there."

"Shut up and open that book." She smiled, blushing at the same time and making Jess smirk.

"Yes, Comrade Gilmore."

* * *

"Are you ever going to do any studying?" Rory smiled, looking up from her book.

"What do you mean? I'm studying."

"Right." She laughed. "You haven't turned the page in ten minutes."

"Maybe I'm just really interested in…" Jess quickly glanced at the book in front of him. "…Shakespeare." He continued his sentence, grimacing. "Chances you're going to buy that?"

"Not high, sorry."

"Too bad." He smirked, picking up a cold fry from the plate in front of him. "How can you focus on this crap for so long?"

"I have to do it if I want to go to Harvard." She shrugged in reply.

"So…if that's your only reason, may I be excused from it? I'm not going to college, why should I give a damn?"

"Because getting a job without a high school degree is really hard." Rory shrugged again.

"I've done it before."

"You think it's still going to work when you're fifty?"

"And worrying about it now is a better solution? I'll do it while I can, when I can't, I'll get a GED and call it a day. I don't give a damn."

"Well, you'd still have to study for the GED though." She pointed out, poking a half-eaten slice of cake with her fork. "Plus, I think you could totally go to college if you wanted to."

"Please." Jess scoffed, shaking his head.

"What? You could."

"Even assuming I could get the money from somewhere, there's no way any college would ever take me with my grades. Not to mention I have no interest in spending four more years learning something I don't care about."

"You could do an English degree."

"Why?"

"Because you'd get to read books and get a degree and the end of it. I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind helping out."

"Still not interested, sorry." Jess shook his head.

"Have you at least considered it?"

"Rory, drop it." He snapped. "I get that going to college is a big deal to you, but it's not to me."

"Fine." She huffed back, looking back at her book. Less than a minute later, she looked back at him. "I just think…"

"I'm going downstairs." He announced, slamming the door behind him before she had a chance to say anything more.

Stepping into the alley behind the diner a few minutes later, Rory caught him as he was lighting a cigarette from the still smoking butt of another one.

"Great." He mumbled, blowing out the smoke.

"I'm here to apologize, you don't have to be like that."

"Sorry, my mind reader must not be tuned up properly today." He softened up a bit, looking at her.

"I didn't want to fight." She stepped closer to him, brushing her fingers against his hand. "But I think you could do incredible things if you tried."

"Did it ever occur to you that I don't care?"

"Just now, yeah." She smiled again, kissing his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He pulled her in for a hug with one arm, his cigarette in the other one.

"Can you at least think about it?"

"No."

"But…"

"You want another fight?"

"Fine." Rory sighed, kissing his cheek again. "Dropping it now."

"I doubt that." Jess smirked, taking another drag from his cigarette. "Go back inside, I'll be up in a bit."

"We ok?"

"Yes." He reassured her, running his hand up her back slowly. "However, since I'm pretty sure I've done more studying in the past two hours than in the whole of last year, can I skip the rest of the afternoon and read instead?"

"No chance, buster."

"Damn." He kissed her softly, cupping her face in his free hand. "Go."

"I'll see you upstairs."

* * *

"Hi." Lorelai greeted Jess, sitting at the counter. Mumbling back, he put a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Food?"

"You're chipper."

"Living up to the expectations." He smirked in reply, shrugging. "There's some peach pie."

"Actually, I'm looking for…uh…"

"He's upstairs." Jess smirked again.

"Thank you. Get me some food ready while I'm gone."

"Anything in particular?"

"Surprise me. Preferably with a cheeseburger with cheesy fries. And that peach pie."

"I'll improvise something."

Laughing, Lorelai headed up the stairs, as Jess shot off her order at Caesar. Turning around to face the diner, he saw Patty standing right behind the counter, waiting for him.

"Jeez. What?"

"Why's Lorelai going upstairs?"

"Don't know."

"You have to know, you were talking for a while."

"Quickie with Luke." He rolled his eyes, realizing that it was better to give them a fake story instead of letting them speculate. "She wanted to badger him into getting something fixed and he's working out what he needs to order for the diner. Happy?"

"Yes, cutie." Patty replied, slightly deflated, making him grimace.

* * *

"Hi." Lorelai greeted, wrapping her arms around Luke's neck as he sat down at the table, kissing his cheek. Pulling her down in his lap, he pressed his mouth against hers, holding her tightly. "Luke!" She laughed, kissing him again.

"Sorry, you're just a very welcomed distraction."

"Never apologize for that." She teased. "How's your day?"

"Better now."

"I can tell." She wiggled her eyebrows, moving closer to him. "I can't stay for long, Rory's meeting me downstairs."

"Shame."

"I thought you were working." She looked at the ledger on the table.

"Don't care."

"Bad Luke!"

"Watch me." He replied, hugging her closer to him.

* * *

"Your mother's upstairs." Jess announced as Rory walked up to him, smirking.

"Ew."

"What?"

"You look like you're trying to imply something and it's squeaking me out."

"Please. I was just going to suggest that we give them a taste of their own medicine."

"Mean." She laughed, leaning over the counter and giving him a kiss.

"By the way, I lied to Patty to save their asses. I'll accept your gratitude this weekend." He whispered.

"You're gonna start keeping track in writing of all the things that I owe you for."

"Don't worry, I have a very good memory."

"Damn."

"You said a bad word." Jess smirked. "I can go put in an order for your food, I'm sure your mother will emerge as soon as she remembers there's pie waiting for her."

"What kind?"

"Peach."

"Is there any for me?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Have a seat." He indicated a table before heading for the kitchen.

* * *

"You're so flushed." Rory laughed, looking at her mother.

"Shut up." Lorelai looked away from her.

"Never."

"I'll ground you." She tried to look stern.

"Uh-huh." Pushing Lorelai's plate of food closer to her, she smiled. "Have something to eat, you'll stop talking nonsense."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

"Wonder why that is." Jess chuckled, appearing at their table, making Lorelai flush again as he refilled their coffee cups.

"You don't get to speak, punk."

"I have the coffee pot."

"I can get it. Try me."

"Oh, I don't doubt you can be much more convincing than I am when it gets to making Luke do things."

"Can you be monosyllabic again? I take back anything I may have ever said, I liked you better before."

"I'll try."

"Better." She laughed, picking up her coffee mug.

Waving discreetly at Jess as he walked away, Rory turned her attention back to her mother. "I may be late coming home tomorrow, but I should still be in time to get ready for dinner."

"Don't you dare leave me alone."

"I won't. If Paris goes all crazy, I'll go straight there from school."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"I won't be home Saturday night, by the way."

"I'd ask why, but it's pretty obvious. And I'd assumed already, anyway."

"I wasn't kidding about grounding you, by the way."

"Yes, you were." Rory smiled as Jess put their plates on the table.

"I brought pie."

"I still don't like you." Lorelai looked at him

"I wasn't planning on staying."

"Good." As soon as Jess left, she looked back at Rory. "So you two plan on being all cute, all day?"

"What?"

"Saturday."

"Uh…" Rory blushed, shrugging. "We'll probably hang out. Watch a movie or something."

"Look how sweet, you actually think I'll believe that."

"And what are you going to be doing, mother?"

"Uh…shut up." Lorelai made a face, laughing.

"As you wish."


	29. Stop!

**A/N: Hrmpf. I dislike teenagers in this chapter. You'll soon realize I'm not the only one ;). Review? Pretty please? You want to, I can just tell. Go on, you'll make my day.**

* * *

**Stop! **

"Luke! You wonderful, miraculous man who's going to save me from starvation and lack of caffeine!" Lorelai yelped dramatically, crashing on one of the chairs at the counter. "Rory drank the last of the coffee and then accused me of being at fault, since it was my responsibility to buy more. Ingrate child, she should know better. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope!"

Pushing a full mug in front of her, Luke smiled. "Here."

"Bless you! You can even lecture me later." She smiled gratefully, gulping down half the cup before pushing it in front of him again. "More."

"You haven't finished that one."

"Please?" She drew out the word, smiling again.

"Fine." Luke sighed, refilling her cup.

"Ok, breakfast now and then I can pretend I'm human and not kill anyone at the inn. Omelet, bacon, hash browns. Lots of pancakes for Rory." Seeing his questioning look, she grinned. "She's coming, she just got distracted by your nephew on the way. I'm sure they'll eventually emerge."

"They better, his break was over five minutes ago."

"I can go track them down while you get me my food. Staving, Luke, starving!"

"It's ok, Rory will bring him in." He smiled, pushing the piece of paper with her order through the window to Caesar. "Everything else fine?" He turned his attention back to Lorelai.

"Not bad. Waiting for tonight." She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, lowering her voice.

"You too?"

"Oh, yeah. Got a new dress and everything. A short one."

"How short?" Luke cocked an eyebrow, looking at her.

"You'll have to wait and see." She teased. "And what better way to make time fly faster than by going in the kitchen and checking on my food?"

Rolling his eyes, Luke smiled, heading to the back room.

"You're awesome!" She called after him, picking up her mug again.

* * *

"Tell me again you're going to be fine."

"Mom." Rory rolled her eyes, looking at Lorelai. "Stop it."

"I can't help it, you and Jess are going to have the house to yourselves and no supervision from me or Luke."

"We'll get Chinese, sit on the couch, watch a movie. That's all."

"Uh-huh. Of course you are."

"We're not going to have this conversation every time you and Luke go out. You have nothing to worry about."

"I gave birth to you, I always have something to worry about." Lorelai sighed, sitting in the arm chair. "Next time, don't let me get dressed so early, I'll have less time to panic about you."

"I'll try." Rory smiled.

"We should be back by eleven and Luke will drive Jess to the diner so, if you go out for a movie or robbing a liquor store or whatever, please be back by that time lest you give mommy a heart attack."

"I know."

"Stop telling me I'm panicking over nothing and let me get it out. This way I'll feel better. I already feel like I should make sure there's some condoms available."

"Ew." Rory blushed, avoiding her mother's eyes. "Ew, ew, ew."

"I was joking. I think." She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "Tell me one more time I don't have anything to worry and you'll tell me when that changes and I promise I'll stop bugging you for good."

"You have nothing to worry about and I'll tell you if that changes." She parroted, smiling.

"I said when, not if."

"If is even safer than when, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Hearing a car pull in the driveway, Lorelai stood up, smoothing her dress down. "Have fun, leave me some spring rolls. And sweet and sour chicken. Oh, noodles too."

"Leftovers will be in the fridge." Rory smiled, waving her mother from the couch as she walked out. A couple of minutes later, she heard the car drive off, followed by a knock on the door.

"You think Luke would have noticed the cloud of smoke following him." She grinned, opening the door to see Jess leaning against the railing, cigarette in his mouth.

"I hid." He smirked, throwing the butt of the porch and stepping to her. "They're annoying, it took them ages to get in the car."

"About as long as it's taking you to get in the house?" She pointed out and Jess chuckled, closing the door behind him before backing her up against a wall, hands cupping her face.

"Hi."

"Hey." She smiled against his mouth as he kissed her again. "I haven't ordered…" He cut her off with another kiss, smirking.

"Stop talking."

"Seriously?" An inquiring look on her face, she smiled.

"It's been a long week. And you made me study on top of all the other stuff you already owe me for. Food can wait for a bit."

Laughing, Rory tugged him closer, hands holding on to his jacket.

* * *

"You know Jess was waiting behind the house for us to leave, right?" Lorelai remarked as they drove to the restaurant.

"What?"

"Jess? Waiting."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah." She laughed, nodding.

"I offered to drive him over but he refused."

"Of course he did, he's a teenager."

"Are you worried?" Luke glanced over, taking his eyes off the road.

"I've been reassured I have nothing to worry about. Plus I'd like to enjoy my evening as well, since I doubt they'll be stressing out over us." Clapping her hands excitedly, she grinned. "Where are we going?"

"Dinner." He replied, laughing.

"No fair, you did this last week as well."

"And?"

"And I really don't like knowing these things. It stresses me out."

"It's not that far, you'll make it."

"Fine, but just for this, I'm picking the movie." She giggled, leaning over and kissing his cheek playfully.

* * *

"…And some sesame chicken." Rory continued talking into the phone, trying to escape Jess at the same time. "See you then. Thanks." Throwing the phone on the table, she smiled, kissing him. "Did you have to do that while I was talking?"

"Yes, I did."

Grumbling when she couldn't think of a good reply, she moved her hand up stealthily, but Jess stopped her in time.

"No messing up my hair."

"Oh, but you can ruin mine?" She smiled, pulling away from him for a second and running her fingers through the tips of her hair.

"Yeah. Remember, you owe me?"

"You're really gonna pull that?"

"I went on a double date with your mother and my uncle. I'm owed sainthood. In the absence of that, I'll settle for making the rules on whose hair gets to be messed up."

"I don't think that's fair." She pouted, trying to ruffle his hair again but he caught her hand again, smirking.

"This means war."

* * *

"I thought you were supposed to be making me coffee." Lorelai moaned, her hands tugging at Luke's shirt as they stumbled up the stairs.

"I will."

"Good, we settled it." She laughed, throwing his shirt away. "Wouldn't want to damage my coffee addict reputation."

Covering her mouth with his, Luke fumbled with the door before finally pushing it open. A second later, Lorelai slammed the door shut again with her foot, one hand working on his belt. Realizing something, she groaned loudly, banging her head on his chest.

"Luke, stop."

* * *

"Jess, stop." Rory mumbled.

"What? Why? What'd I do?" He asked breathlessly, moving away.

"Nothing. It's just…" She blushed, furiously pulling her shirt down.

"Did I go too far or…?"

"A bit."

"Sorry." He shrugged, moving to the other side of the couch. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know." She bit her lip, an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm gonna go make some coffee." He replied brusquely before leaving the room. Following him a few seconds later, Rory leaned in the doorway.

"Jess, are you mad?"

"Not with you." He sighed, staring intently at the coffee dripping inside the pot.

"Then?" She took a tentative step towards him and he moved his eyes to her, sighing.

"Myself. I don't like being that jerk."

"What?"

"The one that has to be told to stop."

"Jess…" She walked to him, putting a reassuring hand on his arm. "Please don't be mad. You weren't alone in there, I was part of it too." She smiled, nudging his shoulder with her forehead.

"Great, now you're trying to make me feel better." He smirked, kissing her forehead.

"I'll go for _'slow down' _next time, ok?"

"It's not the same thing."

"It's more along the lines of what I meant." She admitted, pressing her face in his shoulder again, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

"Huh." Jess smirked, wrapping his arm around her in a hug. "It would have saved some effort and time knowing that."

"Yes, but I got coffee out of this whole incident."

"I could have made you coffee." He pointed out.

"The easy way? Not as much fun." Rory laughed, grabbing two cups from the cupboard and putting them next to the machine for Jess to fill. "Want to go watch a movie?" She smiled as he handed her one of the cups, looking at the door.

"Yeah. What are we watching?"

"Do you care?" Rory giggled, putting her cup down as she picked a random DVD from the pile.

"Not at all." He smiled, waiting for her to sit down and press the play button before kissing her again.

* * *

"Luke, stop."

"No." Luke protested, kissing the top of her head.

"We have to."

"Why?"

"Because Jess is bound to come back eventually." She sighed, kissing him. "Bet you're wishing you'd have built some damned walls around these bedrooms."

"Very badly."

"Though I suppose that would be a walk of shame to remember. Or breakfast. Breakfast would be worse." Lorelai laughed, taking a deep breath. "We should go to my place, I have walls." She suggested, hooking her fingers through the loops on his pants before realizing something. "Wait. Crap, Jess and Rory are there." She whined. "We need to find a solution to this."

"You think?"

"Can we send them to summer camp or something?"

"It's not summer."

"Fine, winter camp?" Lorelai giggled, banging her head against his chest again. "Time for that cup of coffee now?"

"Sure. Let me just…" He pointed at his naked chest and she laughed again.

"It's hanging from the banister, I think."

* * *

"Five minute warning!" Lorelai banged on the front door to her house before wrapping her arms around Luke's waist. "I had fun tonight." She whispered, kissing him softly.

"Me too. Next weekend?"

"Definitely." She replied. "We'll talk?"

"We'll talk." Luke confirmed, pulling her bottom lip between his.

"In the meantime, you think of a way to solve our lack of space problem. Damn it, I always thought having a house would mean I wouldn't have to do this again."

"Do what?"

"Consider sneaking a guy in. How good are you with climbing trees?"

"We'll find out if we don't come up with an alternative."

In the meantime, inside.

"I have nothing to tell mom when she asks what the movie was about." Rory giggled, kissing Jess as she walked him to the front door. Pressing her back against the doorway, he smirked, cupping her face in one hand.

"Someone died."

"What?"

"About twenty minutes in. It's all I've got."

"I'll figure something out."

"Lying to your mother? You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Please, she'll probably gush about Luke." She whispered, giggling. "Tomorrow?"

"Andrew's, around noon?"

"Meet by the autobiographies?"

"You're not getting me to read Nelson Mandela."

"I just think…"

Covering her mouth with his, he cut her off and Rory shook her head, pulling back for a second.

"Only because you're leaving in a bit. I will resume this tomorrow." She kissed him again as soon as she was done.

"Coming in!" Lorelai called a few minutes later and Jess moved away quickly, smirking when he saw Rory trying to catch her breath. "See you." He waved, walking past Lorelai, nodding once as a greeting. Closing the door, Lorelai looked at her daughter.

"Good evening?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

"Details tomorrow?"

"On both sides?" Lorelai smiled.

"Yeah. Rory confirmed, giving her mother a quick hug. "Night."

"Good night."


	30. Rules are meant to be broken

**A/N: You must all go read NotThereNeverAround's "But for the Grace" immediately because it is fabulous and she is fabulous and you'll kick yourselves if you don't, I promise. **

**Oh, and I hope you like this chapter. I'll have a more JJ perspective of the evening in the next one. Reviews are like sunshine and rainbows and cake all in one. But seriously, go read "But for the Grace". **

* * *

**Rules are meant to be broken **

Picking up a pebble, Rory threw it at the window, missing again by over a foot. Letting out a frustrated growl, she kicked the ground as she tried to see if she could find any more stones.

"I've got to say, you really throw like a girl." Jess called from behind her, smirking and she turned on her heels.

"If you're going to tell me you've been watching me do nothing but infuriate myself for the past five minutes without saying a word, I'm never talking to you ever again."

"Just got here." He replied with a shrug, placing his hand comfortingly on her arm. "What's up?"

"Luke is at my house and it's weird and this is all your fault so you're going to make me coffee and keep me company until I can face that again."

Nodding, Jess kissed her cheek before unlocking the diner's door. "Come on."

* * *

"_How was it?" Sookie jumped as soon as Lorelai walked in the kitchen on Monday morning, bringing her hands together in anticipation._

"_God, have you been waiting for me to walk in?"_

"_Yes. How was it?" She repeated, pushing a cup of coffee towards Lorelai. "Tell me."_

"_It was great." Lorelai gushed, grabbing the cup while looking around to check none of the kitchen staff were within earshot. _

"_What did you do?"_

"_We went for dinner."_

"_Where?" Sookie interjected enthusiastically. _

"Pierre's_ in Woodbridge."_

"_I don't know it. How was it?" _

"_Really nice, really small. Candles, flowers."_

"_Food?"_

"_Fabulous."_

"_Ok, what did you do after?"_

"_We were supposed to go see a movie but lingered so much over dinner that we missed so we went to the diner for coffee instead."_

_Perking up even more, Sookie moved closer, shooing one of the waiters with a hand gesture when he tried to approach her. "And?"_

"_And his bedroom has no walls and Jess and Rory were at my house, so we had coffee and talked." She sighed, dropping her head in her hands quickly. "I need to find a solution to this before I die."_

"_That bad?"_

"_Worse." She chuckled bitterly, sipping from the cup. _

"_You could go away for the night. Or book a room at the inn?" She suggested, trying to help. _

"_Right. And leave Rory and Jess with not one, but two places all to themselves?" Lorelai scoffed. "I trust her, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel like pushing fate. Plus that's not in any way a long term solution. It may work once or twice, but not longer. I'm supposed to leave the rooms for the guests."_

"_So you're going to wait until Rory goes to Harvard?" _

_Letting out a small cry of despair, Lorelai grimaced. "I do not like that option." Drinking some more coffee, she pouted. "I suppose I'll have to figure something out."_

"_I'm sure you will." Sookie tried to sound reassuring._

"_I mean, people with kids living in the same house date every day, if everyone else can do it, so can we."_

"_Yes, but those people's kids aren't also dating."_

"_Minor setback. I will solve this." She announced, gulping down some more coffee before her voice wavered. "How do I solve it, Sookie?"_

"_Do you want me to have Rory over for a night?"_

"_Right, 'cause she won't just see right through that." Letting out a breath, she shrugged. "I'll talk to her and see what she says. I think she's old enough for me to be frank about these things, isn't it?"_

"_Yes, she is, sweetie."_

"_I'm not going to traumatize her for life?"_

"_No, you're not."_

"_Are you lying?"_

"_Only a little." Sookie laughed. _

"_Great." Picking up the coffee pot, Lorelai refilled her mug before looking at the door. "I should get back out there, Michel is alone on a Monday morning. There won't be any survivors if I don't take over soon." _

"_You're right." She made a face. "It'll work out."_

"_From your mouth…" Lorelai grinned before leaving the room. _

* * *

"How is this my fault?" Jess asked a couple of minutes later, pushing a cup of coffee over the counter towards Rory.

"You started this. You mentioned them dating therefore sending that boulder rolling down the hill and now they're in my house, doing god knows…" Seeing him try to open his mouth, she glared at him. "Don't even try to say something. It's weird."

"I can't say I'm too broken up about it, I get to see you some more."

Blushing, her anger suddenly gone, she flashed him a smile. "When I get in trouble for sneaking out, you're going down with me."

"Please, they're too busy to notice."

"Ew." Rory grimaced, swatting his arm. "I thought I'd already told you…"

"Yeah, I know." Jess smirked, stepping out from behind the counter and stopping in front of her. "Forgive me?" He asked, a teasing tone to his voice as he placed a kiss on her lips.

"On the promise that you never mention anything about that again. I need therapy."

"I thought she'd talked to you about it."

"She did. It still creeps me out a bit though."

* * *

"_Rory, sit down, we need to talk." Lorelai shot off quickly, pointing at the seat in front of her on Friday afternoon. A confused look on her face, Rory sat down, putting her backpack on the floor._

"_Am I in trouble or…?"_

"_What? No. You're an angel." _

"_Then why would you say that? I thought Chilton had called…"_

"_Baby, honey, sweetie, let me get this out before I lose my nerve. It's taken me days to get to this point, I need to do it quickly." Lorelai interrupted again, pushing her hair behind her ears. "You remember when Max and I were dating and you said something about me being allowed to bring him here, because cats?"_

"_I believe there must have been something else before the cats, but I remember the general gist of the conversation."_

"_Does that apply to Luke as well?" Lorelai asked hesitantly, grimacing. "I hate to make you uncomfortable, but it's not like we can go to his place because Jess is there and there are no walls and I promise I won't do it if you'd feel even the slightest bit weird about it."_

_Pausing for a few seconds, Rory bit her lip before shrugging. "It's your house too."_

"_That's not what I asked. I know that technically I could do it. I don't want you to hate me or feel weird in your house though."_

"_Just…don't let him walk around the place naked." Closing her eyes, she shook her head quickly, trying to get the image out of her head. "Or at all. Can you keep him in your room the first few times until I get used to it?"_

"_Yes. Anything you want."_

"_You're really desperate, aren't you?" She joked, hoping she wasn't blushing too much out of embarrassment at the conversation. _

"_You have no idea." _

"_And we've just crossed into too much information territory. As far as I'm concerned, you and Luke will be sitting at opposite ends of the room when he is here and that is the last time we will bring this up. Deal?"_

"_Deal." Lorelai agreed, letting out a sigh of relief._

"_So…this means he'll be here tomorrow night?"_

"_Uh…maybe." Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. It's complicated. You've watched _Sex and the City_, you know it's not an easy decision."_

"_Ok. Let me know."_

* * *

"How come you never talk about New York?" Rory whispered, watching King Kong swing from the top of the Empire State Building.

"Don't have anything to say."

"Do you miss it?"

"I miss having something to do on a Saturday night other than watch a 70 year old movie." Jess shrugged, smirking.

"So if you were there right now you'd be…"

"Not watching a 70 year old movie." He smirked again, kissing the top of her head. "Don't know. Out somewhere."

"Doing?" Rory pushed again, lifting her head to look at him.

"Hanging out."

"With friends?"

"Nope, my trusty sidekick Robin."

"Jess, I'm serious." She laughed, kissing him gently. "I want to know more about you."

"Why?"

"I'm curious. Isn't that good enough?"

"If I say no, will you drop it?"

"No." She giggled again, running her fingers down the back of his neck. "Divulging a small thing about yourself won't kill you."

"Are you really willing to risk it?"

"Fine, let's finish watching the movie." Rory replied with a pout, turning to look back at the screen. Shaking his head, Jess snickered before placing a kiss on her neck.

"I probably wouldn't be doing much. Reading somewhere. Most people I knew threw parties during the week."

"What about school?" Rolling her eyes at herself, she laughed. "Forget I asked. And at these parties you'd…?"

"Have a few drinks, talk to people. That sort of thing."

"Do you miss any of the people you used to talk to?"

"Not really, most of them are jackasses."

"Then why did you hang out with them?"

"So I wouldn't have to be at home." He admitted without thinking. After a few seconds of silence, he forced a smile, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "It wasn't bad, just crowded. No need for sympathy."

"You sure?"

"Hey, you're here, should I be worried?" He joked, leaning over and kissing her. "Speaking of that, I probably should take you home as, even if Luke's on some sort of chemicals, they should be done by now and I don't know if he's coming back or not but I'm guessing you don't want to spend the rest of the night hiding in the closet?"

"That is the longest sentence I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Rory laughed, standing up next to him and wrapping her arms around Jess. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Keeping me company." She kissed his cheek, smiling. "And sharing however small a tidbit of information about your life."

"If you're lucky, I'll tell you my shoe size in a few months."

"Can't wait." She kissed him again. "I can walk back by…"

"I don't have anything better to do anyway." Jess smirked, draping his arm over her shoulders.

* * *

_Earlier that night._

_Moaning against Luke's mouth before pulling back, Lorelai rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to come inside?" She tilted her head in the direction of her house, biting her lip._

"_What about Rory?"_

"_Give me five minutes to talk to her and I'll take care of it."_

"_Ok." Luke whispered breathlessly, moving his hand away from Lorelai's leg. Walking out of her car and into the house, she knocked on Rory's door softly, nerves taking a hold of her._

"_Yeah?" Rory mumbled tiredly, opening the door._

"_How much warning do I have to give you before I bring a guy home?"_

"_Hang a sock on the banister." She joked. "And be safe, I don't need a sibling."_

"_Yes, mother." Lorelai giggled, looking at the corridor. "I better…"_

"_I'm gonna go back to sleep. I know nothing."_

* * *

"I'll take it from here." Rory whispered as they stood at a safe distance from her house, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, it was." Jess admitted. "Can I wish that it will take you a long time to get used to Luke being over at your house?"

"I'd say that's a very real possibility." She smiled as he kissed her. "I'm starting to get the appeal of this breaking the rules thing."

"Next I'll get you to say a HBO word."

"Don't count on it."

"I'll cling to the hope desperately." He smirked, tracing soft kisses from one corner of her lips to the other. "Go on, home before they notice something."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll have coffee." He tilted his head as a goodbye as she headed to her house, hunting through his pocket for a cigarette. "Night."

"Good night."


	31. Oh, truck it!

**A/N: I'm cramming like mad for my big exam this Friday plus I could not get this chapter to work with me, no matter what. Feh. Kill me now. Or review. Reviews would be better ;).**

* * *

** Oh, truck it!**

"_Hey." Lorelai greeted Luke on Tuesday afternoon, walking up to the counter. _

"_Hi." He smiled back, pulling out a cup. Waving it off, she shook her head. _

"_To go, please, the inn needs me. I'm like a superhero today. Woosh, woosh!" She posed her hands flying Superman style, making Luke chuckle. _

"_Here." He pushed the full cup towards her. "Are you free this Saturday?"_

"_Yes. Will you save me from terrible boredom, as I'm sure my daughter has something planned already with your hoodlum nephew?"_

"_Dinner?"_

"_Throw in a movie too and we've got a deal."_

"_I'll pick you up at 6.30."_

"_I'll see you then." She grinned, taking the cup and trying to hand him a dollar bill but Luke shook his head._

"_On the house."_

"_Careful, I may come by even more often than I do now."_

"_I'm sure that wouldn't be too much of a problem." _

* * *

Saturday evening, Rory walked in the diner, finding Jess standing behind the counter.

"Caesar, I'm out." He called to the kitchen, leaning over the counter and placing a kiss on her lips. "Hi."

"Were you voluntarily working even though it's not your shift? Should I call you an ambulance?" Rory teased as he walked to her, draping an arm over her shoulders.

"Luke's upstairs getting ready." He leaned closer to her ear, whispering, before placing a kiss on her neck. "I had to escape somehow."

"Likely story."

"You can go check." He offered, tilting his head towards the diner they were now leaving behind. "I'm sure he's trying on the fiftieth shirt of the day or something."

"I'll pass. Where are we going?"

"Bridge until they leave?"

"My place or yours after?"

"Whichever. I don't care."

"Mine then. Less sneaking around to get to it."

"A clever ploy so you can have full control of the ordering choices." Jess smirked, kissing her cheek.

"You just said you don't care, you're not allowed to complain ten seconds later."

"I wasn't complaining, but making sure you know I'm on to your evil schemes."

"I don't buy it." She giggled, sitting on the bridge, holding his hand as she pulled him down with her.

"Here, let me make it more convincing." He moved his mouth to her neck, smirking. Closing her eyes, Rory bit her bottom lip, focusing on the sensation.

* * *

Later that night, in Lorelai's bedroom.

"Lorelai?" Luke whispered, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Hm?" She mumbled, half asleep.

"Should I go home?"

"What?" She rolled over, pushing her hair back and looking at him. "No. Why? I mean yes, go, if you want to."

"I don't want to." He reassured her, placing a small kiss on her lips. "I was wondering because of Rory and everything."

"I talked to her. It's the best I can do."

"Ok."

"So…you're staying?"

"Yes." Luke nodded, kissing her again. "If you're sure it's ok."

"I'm sure." Cuddling closer to him, Lorelai kissed his bare chest. "You do realize we're never going to hear the end of this from Jess, right?"

"I'll remind him that I can change my mind at any time and make him work Saturdays."

"Oh, evil Luke! I like it." She giggled. "Can I go back to sleep now? I'm very grumpy in the morning if I don't get enough sleep and I know you've seen that before, but that was regular Luke, not dating Luke, and I really don't want to scare dating Luke off by attacking you or something."

"Dating Luke?" He smiled, trying not to laugh.

"Like Ken, but better. And with genitalia." She replied, bursting out laughing, making Luke smile as well. "Right, sleep time." She mumbled when she caught her breath, giving him one more kiss. "Good night."

"Night."

* * *

The next morning.

Groggily extending her arms, Lorelai almost jumped out of bed when she hit the still sleeping Luke.

"What the…" Realizing who it was, she laughed at herself, nestling closer to him. When she couldn't go back to sleep after a few minutes, she sighed before sneaking out of bed, grabbing a robe on her way out. Walking into the kitchen, she took a step back, startled again when she almost ran into Rory.

"God, make a noise!"

"Sorry." Rory shrugged. "I didn't think you'd be up."

"I'm only here for coffee." She replied with a smile.

"I'd ask how last night went, but Luke's truck is still in front of the house so I'll draw my own conclusions." Rory snickered. "I'll make myself scarce or hide in my room to avoid any unwanted encounters."

"I'll come knock on your door before I let him out."

"That sounds like you have him tied to the bed or something." Lifting her hand, she laughed. "Don't say a word."

"I wasn't going to!" Lorelai protested, filling her coffee mug. "I'll should probably go back."

"Go!" She encouraged her mother before going back to her room, closing the door behind her. Taking a sip from her cup, Lorelai started heading towards the stairs when a thought dawned on her and she hurried back to Rory's room, knocking.

"Yes?"

"His truck."

"Whose truck?"

"Luke's truck."

"What about it?" Rory asked, confused.

"It's in front of the house. You just said that."

"I had nothing to do with it."

"I know, but…"

"Babette." Rory realized the source of her mother's panic. "What are you gonna do?"

"Pray that she wasn't home last night? Or if she was, she didn't see it?"

"I didn't see her porch light on last night, but that doesn't really guarantee much."

"Shit." Looking at her daughter, she grimaced. "Sorry."

"Mom, you let me watch _Casino_ when I was 12. That's not gonna scar me."

"Yeah, but I still feel weird saying bad words in front of you."

"Deal with it some other time, you have more important issues to focus on."

"Tell them he was over watching a movie and fell asleep?"

"Why did he drive? He lives a quarter of a mile away!"

"Because he broke his leg."

"He doesn't have a broken leg."

"Yet." She grinned evilly.

"You can't break Luke's leg just to make your story plausible."

"How about a fake cast then?" She joked, letting out a breath. "I suppose I'll have to face the music, right?"

"Yes. Hey, it might end up being for the best."

"How?"

"I don't know, I'm just trying to get you to stop panicking!" Rory admitted, laughing. "Talk to Luke about it, see what he says."

"Leave it to you to be rational."

"It's why you keep me."

"That and because you clean the house." Lorelai laughed. "Fine, I'll go talk to him."

"I'll be here." Rory nodded, waiting for her mother to leave before closing her door again.

Walking back in her bedroom a minute later, Lorelai waved when she saw Luke sitting up on the bed. "Hey. I was just downstairs for coffee."

"I guessed." He smiled. Putting the mug down, Lorelai cuddled up to him, a satisfied grin on her lips.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. You."

"Mm-hm." She nodded, kissing him once before pulling away to look at him. "We need to talk though."

"About?"

"Your truck's downstairs. I'm guessing Babette must have seen and the entire town knows you spent the night here by now."

"I didn't think of that."

"Neither did I. And since my time machine is broken, it's time to figure a solution."

"Can't we just tell them the truth?" Luke suggested.

"Oh. I…"

"You…?" He asked after a couple of seconds, when she still hadn't finished her thought.

"I hadn't thought of it as an option." Seeing his expression change, she bolted from her place, placing a kiss on his lips. "Not because of you, but…it's so simple right now. When they all find out, they're going to butt in and Taylor's gonna throw a fit about the possibility of Rory and Jess being alone and God knows what else."

"And?"

Pushing her hair behind her ears, she shrugged. "Is that ok? Last time we talked about this, you agreed that they're gonna go mad and it's probably better to keep it quiet for a while."

"Yes, but they probably already know. So instead of coming up with some over the top excuse, why don't we just tell them that we're dating and get it over with? Sooner than we thought it would be, sure, but it's out and I don't have to come up with any more ridiculous excuses every time Patty asks me why I wasn't working a shift."

"I would have preferred it being on our terms."

"Me too." Luke agreed, looking at her. "But…"

"But it's too late so to hell with it, right?" She smiled, kissing him and he kept her close.

"Yes."

"Now…how do we do this?"

"Act normal?"

"Could you make it sound any simpler?" She laughed, laying down on the bed. "Next time there's something going catastrophically wrong at the inn, can I come see you so you can use some of that calming mojo you have going on?" She giggled again. "Dirty."

"We could take an ad out in the _Gazette _if you want."

"I'll live."

* * *

Leaving a note on the coffee machine to let her mother know she had gone out, Rory grabbed her coat and headed for the diner, trying to get away from her house.

"Morning." Jess greeted, leaning in for a kiss as he opened the door to the apartment. "Guessing the awkwardness didn't go away overnight?"

"Apparently not." She smiled, biting her lip. "Am I interrupting?"

"I'm sure you can pry me from Mailer."

"That sounds like a challenge." Rory laughed, walking in, closing the door behind her.


	32. Out of the Cage, into the Wild

**A/N: For the always awesome Megan, whose birthday was yesterday and who I love very much in a totally stalking sort of way. **

* * *

**Out of the Cage, into the Wild**

"Good, you're finally here!" Luke sighed, relieved as Lorelai walked in the diner on Monday morning.

"Hello to you too, darling. Yeah, I slept well." She giggled, sitting down. "What's up?"

"They have been driving me insane all morning wanting to know what my truck was doing at your house!" He replied angrily, still keeping his voice at whisper level.

"And you told them…?"

"I didn't know what to tell them!"

"Didn't we agree that we were going to be truthful about it? Please don't tell me the hallucinations are back, the butterfly nets always mess my hair!"

"Yes, but I don't know how to talk about these things! What was I supposed to say?"

"We were doing stuff the Pope wouldn't approve of?" She laughed again. "Relax."

"Oh, so I was imagining you panicking about this yesterday?"

"Please, that was a lifetime ago. I'm fine now."

"Good to know. So?"

"Grab one of those paper cups, fill it with coffee and I'll let you in on my secret plan. It should clarify things for them." She smiled. Handing her the cup a couple of seconds later, Luke looked at her.

"So?"

Leaning over the counter, she placed a kiss on his lips before grabbing the mug and heading towards the door, leaving a stunned diner behind her.

* * *

"You kissed Luke!" Sookie squealed with joy as soon as Lorelai walked in the inn.

"Wait, how did that get here before I did?"

"In Stars Hollow?" She asked incredulously.

"This must be a new record."

"Lorelai, good, you're here." Michel chimed in, approaching the two. "Can you please tell her to go back to the kitchen? I can't do my job with her hovering around my desk!"

"I've only been here for three minutes!" Sookie shot.

"About two minutes and fifty-nine seconds too long."

"Michel, I swear, I'm gonna…"

"Come on, Sook, let's go to the kitchen. I'm famished." Lorelai distracted her best friend, shooting Michel a glare before heading for the other room.

"You kissed Luke!" She yelped again, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"How is this news to you?"

"The public aspect of it is! I thought you were gonna keep in a secret for a while?"

"We were, but then we forgot Luke's truck in front of my house the other night so we decided to screw that."

"Wait, Luke was at your house?"

"Uh-huh." She smiled playfully, sipping from her take-away cup.

"So you two…?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded again.

"Tell me everything!"

Before she could get a chance to start talking, Lorelai's phone rang. "Give me a minute, Manny is supposed to call this morning about some linens and I don't doubt Michel is too busy pouting to answer the phone." She rolled her eyes before answering. "Hello!"

"_Good morning, Lorelai." _Emily greeted from the other end.

"You can't know already!" She exclaimed, shocked. Realizing what she'd just said, she covered her mouth with her hand.

"_Know what?"_

"That…uh…there's this big event in Stars Hollow and Taylor just told me about it. I was telling Sookie about it but she already knew!"

"Event?" Sookie mouthed and Lorelai pointed at her phone, mouthing _"Emily." _in reply.

"_What kind of event?" _She dug deeper, unconvinced.

"It's a…sort of…er…a pie eating contest!"

"_A pie eating contest?"_

"Yes, and Sookie knew because Taylor asked her to bake the pies." She let out a sigh of relief, wiping the imaginary sweat of her brow. "Why did you call, mom?"

"_Rory."_

"What's up with Rory?"

"_Is she still seeing Dean?"_

"What? Why would you ask that?" She grimaced and Sookie gestured with her hands, impatiently wanting to know what was going on.

"_She hasn't mentioned him in a while. I figured between finishing school, the trip to Washington and starting her senior year, she would be busy, but it does seem rather curious that there hasn't even been a passing mention."_

"Well…see…" She hesitated again, not sure of what to say. "She…"

"_Lorelai!" _Emily snapped, annoyed with her daughter's evasiveness.

"No. They're not."

"_Why?"_

"Teenager stuff, nothing serious."

"_Is she dating anyone else now?"_

"Mom, I'm not really comfortable talking about this with you. Ask her, I'm sure she'll fill you in."

"_But…"_

"She is almost a legal adult, I'm not going to butt in." She replied sternly. "Someone needs me, was there anything else you wanted?"

"_No."_

"Fine, then I'll see you on Friday." Hanging up the phone she took a deep breath. "Well that went badly."

"What did she want?"

"To talk about Rory's love life. And I completely threw her under a bus since I didn't know what to say."

"I'm sure she'll understand." She tried to comfort her friend. "Now tell me everything about Saturday night!"

* * *

"Hi." Rory smiled, sitting down on the bridge next to Jess. Putting his book down, he looked at her and she took the opportunity to place a quick kiss on his lips. "How was school?"

"Same old drudgery. You?"

"Yet another day of throwing more information than any human brain can actually process at us, followed by a test."

"How did it go?"

"Not bad."

"By that you mean you rocked it as usual?"

"Shush, I'm trying to not jinx it." She smiled and he kissed her, circling her waist with his arm.

"In that case, we should talk about something else. Or not talk. Yeah, I like that better."

"How shocking." She replied with a giggle, leaning closer to him. Pulling back a few minutes later, she shivered, rubbing her arm. "It's getting cold."

"Come to the diner, it's warm there."

"I can't, I have homework."

"And? You can do it there."

"Right, 'cause you're going really going to let me do my work in peace."

"I promise." He nodded solemnly, trying to keep himself from smirking.

"I don't believe you."

"Why would you ever doubt me?"

"No reason at all." She rolled her eyes, laughing despite her best attempts at staying serious.

"Then?"

"At least tell me you're going to do some of your homework too?" Rory asked hopefully.

"And not lie?"

"Jess!"

"I'll look over some school books. It's the best you're gonna get."

"Fine, but if you try to distract me, I'll be out of there so fast you won't know what happened." She drew out the word before jumping to her feet, waiting for him to catch up. Starting to walk though town, they noticed a flurry of hushed conversations and pointed looks aimed at them.

"Hey, is it just me or…?" Rory trailed off, looking at Jess and he nodded.

"Nope, they're staring."

"You don't think something's wrong, do you?"

"Nah, Lorelai would have called you."

"So…?"

"No clue." Jess shrugged. Walking in the diner, they approached the counter and Luke looked at them.

"You hungry?"

"I'm good. Rory?" Jess looked at his girlfriend but she shook his head quickly.

"I ate at school. Coffee would be great though." She smiled sweetly at the man.

"Your mother has ruined you." The man sighed, trying to sound annoyed.

"Luke, do you happen to have any clue as to why everyone in town is looking at us?" He raised his voice to make people aware that he was onto them and everyone looked at their plates quickly, trying to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Forget it, it's not about you." He tried to wave it off.

"Meaning?"

"Oh, I know!" Rory finally realized, an excited smile on her face. "So it's out?"

"Yes." Luke confirmed.

"Care to fill me in?" Jess looked at Rory and she leaned closer to his ear, whispering _"The town knows mom and Luke are dating."_.

"Should have guessed." He rolled his eyes at himself.

"Here's your coffee." Luke pushed a cup towards Rory and she took it.

"Thanks."

"We'll be upstairs doing homework." Jess smirked, waiting for Rory to go before following. "By the way, can I assume Luke going through my CDs this morning has something to do with your mother?" He smirked when they were in the apartment, placing his hands on Rory's hips as soon as she'd set the cup down.

"I'd say that's very likely, unless he's developed a sudden interest in…"

"Bowie."

"Poor Luke, he had no idea what he was getting into." She giggled, kissing him. "Now let me study." She pushed him away gently, sticking out her tongue seeing his disappointed look. "You knew this is what I was here for."

"Knew? Yes. Hoped I could change your mind? Always." He replied with a smirk before sitting down across form her, pulling a book from his pocket.

* * *

"Coffee, please." Lorelai asked Jess, sitting at the counter much later that evening.

"Luke's in the store room, I'm sure you know the way."

"I'm waiting for Rory." She made a face, trying not to blush.

"Huh."

"Coffee?" She asked and he pushed an empty cup towards her, grabbing the pot from behind him.

"So, did you have a good weekend?" He cocked his eyebrows knowingly, smirking at the same time.

"And here I thought you wanted to keep dating my daughter. The smart ass comments are really winning you points."

"Sheesh, ask an innocent question." He chuckled, before going to the kitchen and coming out with a slice of pie. "Peace offering."

"Add some ice cream and I'll consider it."

Taking the plate again, he returned with it a few seconds later, a large scoop of ice cream next to the pie, three cherries perched on top of it.

"Thanks." Lorelai smiled, picking up the spoon on the side. "You live."

"Hey, mom. Sorry I'm late." Rory greeted her mother a couple of seconds later, sitting down next to her. "Pie! I want pie!"

"Have you had dinner?"

"Yes and since when do you care?" She laughed, looking at Lorelai with a puzzled look on her face.

"Not sure, decided to try it out. Don't think it will stick. Tell Jess, he's the one that got me this."

"I guessed." He smirked, pushing a plate towards Rory. "Yes, you're that predictable when it comes to baked goods."

"Ah, well, there are worse things in life." She grinned.

"Let's sit at a table, I need to talk to you." Lorelai took Rory's arm in one hand, holding her plate in the other. "Jess, help with the cups, please?"

"Will you at least tip me this time?" He placed the cups on the table, faking exasperation.

"I will if you leave us alone." As soon as he'd turned his back to them, she looked at her daughter, a distressed look on her face. "Please remember I am your favorite mother."

"What have you done?"

"Your grandmother called."

"And?"

"And she asked if you'd broken up with Dean and I said yes."

"That's not too bad."

"I'm not done." She grimaced, closing her eyes. "She then asked if you were dating someone new and I didn't know if I should tell her or not because she's my mother and I don't like giving her any information, but you like her and I really didn't know so I told her she should ask you. I panicked, did I mention I panicked? I'm so, so sorry."

"Mom." She interrupted the rant, smiling.

"You hate me and you're moving out?"

"Right, I'm gonna pull a Liz Murray. It's fine. She was going to ask eventually, at least I'm forewarned."

"I must remember you take these things much better than I do."

"Well, I am the adul…oh, no, wait." She laughed, picking up a piece of pie on her fork. "What else did she say?"

"Nothing much. She asked if you and Dean had broken up because you hadn't mentioned him a while and if you were seeing anyone."

"Ok."

"What are you gonna tell her?"

"I don't know." Rory shrugged. "I suppose I have the rest of the week to think about it."

"Let me know if you need any help with the pro/con list."

"Mocking my lists will not endear you to me." She replied, laughing. "Now tell me everything about your day. I want to know every single comment you got about Luke."

"Babette hugged me…" She started her tale, the smile on her face growing bigger.


	33. Practice what you preach?

**Practice what you preach?**

"Lorelai, we need to talk." Taylor approached her the next afternoon as she made her way to the cash register in the grocery store.

"No, we don't. Unless it's about something else than what I think it's about, in which case go ahead."

"It's about you and Lu…"

"Hey, I was right. We don't." She cut him off, putting her basket at the end of the conveyor belt. "Hi, Tania."

"This is serious, Lorelai! Do you know what you're doing? There are consequences…" The man continued, ignoring her.

"Don't worry, I figured how to use contraception sometime in the last 18 years, it's all good." She glared at him, unloading items from her basket. "How are the kids?" She addressed the checkout woman again but Taylor lifted his hand, motioning for her to be quiet.

"That is not what I'm interested in, but it's a good thing. Another child is the last thing you need."

"Great, now you're going to tell me what I need." She mumbled, slamming the bag of Red Vines down. "Taylor, Luke and I are adults. What we do is between the two of us and you better stay out of it."

"Have you even thought about Rory and Jess?"

"No, I didn't think my daughter should figure into my life decisions." Lorelai rolled her eyes, stepping closer to him. "Listen. We have this all figured out. Now butt out before I do some serious bodily harm." She poked his chest with her index finger before turning back around to her groceries. "You don't need to bag that, Tommy." She smiled at the teenage boy, completely ignoring Taylor's furious mumbling.

* * *

"I don't know what to do." Rory groaned, digging into the ice cream box with her spoon. "I don't want to lie to them."

"I'm going to kill him, I swear!"

"But nothing good would come out of telling grandma, would it?"

"How dare he get involved? Have I thought of you? Stupid nosy jerk."

"And then they'll want to meet him."

"What? They've met him."

"No, they haven't." Rory pointed out, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Taylor. And Luke. And Taylor and the town knowing Luke. What are _you_ talking about?" She waved her spoon towards her daughter, just as confused.

"Grandma and Jess."

"Damn, I forgot about that." Lorelai admitted.

"What's Taylor done?"

"Tried to talk to me about Luke. Never mind. What are you going to do with mom?"

"I don't know." Rory sighed, hitting her head against the back of the couch. "I don't want to hide it." She admitted, shrugging.

"Plus, you're not all that great at lying."

"I could…maybe…" Grimacing, she shoved the spoon in her mouth. "I don't know."

"Maybe you should talk to Jess about it as well."

"Why?"

"Because you just said that they will want to meet him." She reminded her daughter. "They've come around to the fact that you're old enough to be dating so I don't see you getting out of it without at least a dinner. If I were you, I'd talk to him first since you'll have a lot of explaining to do if he refuses."

"Dinner invitations would be a really bad idea."

"You don't think you could talk him into it?"

"I doubt it." She shrugged.

"So your choices are don't tell them about Jess or tell them and then listen to their incessant complaints about not meeting him?"

"Lie or suffer? Great." She tried to laugh. "I don't like either."

"Even if you got parallel universe Jess one day and he came to dinner with us, they still wouldn't like him."

"Well, he's not Ivy League bound."

"Or college bound." Lorelai reminded her.

"I'm trying to work on that one."

"Kid, don't get your hopes up." Seeing Rory was preparing to go on the defense, she lifted her hand. "That wasn't a dig at Jess. If he wanted to, I'm sure he could do it, but he doesn't seem like he wants to."

"I'm glad you're not so hell bent against him anymore." She softened again, picking up more ice cream with her spoon.

"I'm not completely irrational, I'll agree that he's been less of a jackass in the past few months. That does not mean my initial assessment of him was wrong or that he can't go back to my bad graces in a blink."

"As long as you're still always right. And thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "So…what are you telling mom?"

"I don't know. I suppose I should at least see if he'd be open to the possibility of meeting them before I make any decisions."

"Plus it'll give you a reason to see him." Lorelai laughed, putting the lid on the ice cream box.

"I didn't mean tonight." She bit her lip, hoping she wasn't blushing.

"Maybe not, but I probably should talk to Luke to see if he's been ambushed as well and we have nothing better to do."

"You just want to see Luke."

"It works out best for both of us, doesn't it?"

"I'll get my shoes." She said instead of a more direct answer.

"I'll get my purse."

Five minutes later, they were walking down the street, headed towards the diner.

"Are you going to tell grandma and grandpa about Luke?" Rory asked, looking at her mother.

"I don't know." She admitted. "I like Luke. Really like him. But it's all so new that even if I do, it's not going to be for a while. I don't want to jinx things, you know?"

"Mom, it wouldn't."

"The powers of jinx are great and unknown." She giggled. "Let me have some time to enjoy it before I worry my pretty little head with such things. I'm not over the mess Taylor finding out was, I really don't want to think about…that."

"But you'll tell them eventually? After what happened with Max, I don't want you guys to get in a fight again because you're keeping things from them."

"Will you take your own advice?"

"I…"

"The smoke signals are to guide you, I'm guessing." Lorelai let it go, jerking her head towards the alley. "I'll be inside, we'll talk about this later."

"Ok." She replied, waving goodbye before hurrying towards Jess. "Hi!" She greeted him.

"This is unexpected." Jess smirked, throwing his half smoked cigarette away. "Did you run out of coffee again?"

"No." She shook her head, putting one hand on his hip as she moved closer. "I have something to talk to you about. But you're going to have to seriously consider it before you say anything. And let me get it all out before saying anything."

"Sounds ominous."

"It's a hypothetical."

"Hypothetically ominous. Huh." He smirked, hooking a finger through her belt loop. "Better, but only marginally. Go." He told her.

"You know grandma now know that I'm not with Dean any more but doesn't know about you because didn't know if she should tell her, right?" She waited for him to nod before continuing. "Well, if I tell her, she and grandpa will want to meet you and I need to know if you'd be open to that before I can decide what to tell her. So think about it and you can give me an answer tomorrow."

"Ro…"

"Shush." She shut him up, pressing her lips against his while her arms circled his neck.

"Bu…"

"No talking." She told him again and he rolled his eyes before kissing her back.

* * *

"Hi." Lorelai bounced up to the counter.

"Hey." Luke answered, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. "Did you run out of coffee again?"

"No." She shook her head. "But if you're offering…" She waited for him to pour her a cup before continuing. "Ran into Taylor earlier and wanted to see if he got you as well."

"Oh, yeah."

"What did he say?" She asked, cringing. "And what did you say?"

"Told him to get out of my diner."

"And he listened?"

"I may have threatened to help him if he didn't go willingly." Luke smiled. "What did you do?"

"Told him to mind his own business."

"Rebuffed twice in one day…"

"He must be furious." Lorelai shrugged. "We better wear armor to the town meeting."

"He better keep his nose out of this."

"I like angry Luke."

"Not angry, just…wanting everyone to mind their own business."

"Angry was doing it more for me." She cocked her eyebrows, laughing. "It will die down."

"I hope so."

"What do we do if it doesn't?"

"Move to South America."

"I like it." Lorelai said. "Can you be a rancher? You could keep all your clothes and boy, would you look good in the hat."

"I'll see what I can do." He smiled. "How's Rory?"

"Right outside, trying to talk Jess into the possibility dinner with my parents."

"Ha." He snorted.

"Don't laugh, mister, you're going to have to face the same thing as soon as they find out about your existence. Her problem is just more urgent."

"Why?"

"Mom is going to ask about her love life on Friday and she can't lie. She thinks she can, which is adorable, but Jess better say yes or mom will have someone bring him over against his wishes."

"I wouldn't mind going." He blurted out.

"What?"

"When you tell them, if they want me to come…"

"If? Definitely."

"Well, when they do, I don't have a problem with it."

"You have listened to my stories about my mother, right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "I know I talk a lot but something must have registered. And you've met them!"

"Lorelai, I can handle your parents."

"I do believe those are the last words of many, many people."

"Lorelai…"

"Fine. I was just trying to warn you." She lifted her hands in defeat. "It's not going to be for some time, so there's no need to worry about it now."

"Ok." He nodded, leaning over the counter and kissing her. "Should we go check on Rory and Jess?"

"Give them five more minutes."

* * *

"Are you going to go?" Luke asked Jess later that night, taking advantage of a rare moment of peace from the blaring music.

"Where?"

"Rory's grandparents'."

"None of your business." He shrugged, flicking faster through the stack in search of a different CD.

"I think you should."

"Great, I'll take it under advisement."

"Could you stop being a smart ass for a minute?"

Shooting Luke a glare, he finally pulled the CD out of the shoebox and put it in the player.

"I give up!" Luke grumbled over the music, shaking his head. Pausing it, Jess looked at the older man.

"Why should I go?"

"Because Rory wants you to."

"And?"

"And you like Rory."

"And?" Jess asked again, rolling his eyes.

"And her grandparents are not going to like you if you avoid them."

"They're not going to like me no matter what."

"Probably true, but at least give a try. That way, it's on them instead of you."

"I'll think about it." Jess replied before turning the music on again.

* * *

"So?" Rory asked the next afternoon, leaning on the counter.

"Fine."

"Seriously?" She asked, mouth half open in shock.

"Don't volunteer me or anything. I'm really busy, can't get out of work. Whatever. But if they insist…I'll go. Once." He agreed, letting out a breath and Rory jumped up, giving him a kiss.

"Not here, people are eating." Luke scolded them, walking out of the kitchen with two plates in his hands.

"Sorry." Rory blushed, looking down. "Thank you, Jess."

"You're welcome." He smiled briefly, running his fingers over her wrist.


End file.
